Dreaming, Believing
by senshiHg
Summary: FemRyo, She dreamed about being seen as an equal in tennis.  Japan gave her that opportunity to turn that dream into a reality. No pairings for Rin. GB of at least 1 member per a team.
1. Intro: Arrival

Dreaming, Believing

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

AN: I decided to write my own femRyo story, while waiting for the ones I like to read to update. Updates will be infrequent, but I will try to meet the goal of once a month. This story will follow the entire POT series with a few tweaks here and there. I'm trying to keep it semi-realistic. There will be minor fluff, but no set pairings because who can honestly say that they dated seriously when they were 12-14? Anyone who wants certain pairings will be ignored. **I will be gender bending at least one character per a team for my story. You have been warned.**

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Prologue: Arrival

"_hmmm…. What to do_?" stated a short girl of 151 cm, with a short bob of black/green hair ending under her chin. The girl was wearing a pair of black shorts, a light blue polo shirt, and white Fila tennis shoes. She was standing next to a pile of luggage in front of Narita International Airport holding a tennis bag.

"_Damn, that perverted Oyaji_," she grumbled, then sighed.

"Taxi!" she cried with her hand out.

A cab quickly pulled up next to her and a cab driver hopped out. He was surprised such a young girl was traveling by herself, but knew not to comment. The luggage was being placed into the back of the car, when suddenly a Himalayan cat jumped out of the bag he was holding, startling the driver.

"_Ah. Karupin that's where you were_," the girl stated.

"_You know the cat should be in a carrier_," stated the driver in heavily accented English. He was rather annoyed that a cat had surprised him.

"Mada mada dane," she said.

The driver decided to ignore the rude girl and finished loading the car. Before he could even ask where she wanted to go, a piece of paper with an address was handed to him. Seeing her strapped in with her tennis bag next to her and the annoying cat on her lap, the driver set off.

- Line Break -

They arrived at their destination a short time later in front of a temple. The girl hopped out of the car and paid for the ride. The driver warily took the luggage out of the car, checking to make sure nothing else was going to pop out. The girl refused help in bringing the luggage to the doorstep. The driver sighed in relief and left. He just didn't know she had other plans for the luggage.

She walked over to the door and quickly knocked. A man in his late thirties opened door slowly, while yawning with his eyes closed. He was wearing a black monk's robe with no shoes.

"We don't want anything," stated the man before opening his eyes.

"_Good_ _because I'm not selling anything you perverted _Oyaji," the girl stated.

"Eh?" he asked, finally opening his eyes. "Oh you aren't supposed to be here until the 1st."

"Baka Oyaji, school starts on the 1st," she grumbled. "Now make yourself useful and get my stuff," as she pointing at the pile of luggage.

"Che, get it yourself you midget," as he got ready to close the door.

"Oh really…?" she said as a strange glint in her golden brown eyes appeared.

- Line Break -

The luggage was neatly stacked in a small room, containing a Western style bed and small desk by a window. The girl could be found sound asleep on the bed.

Meanwhile downstairs….

"I can't believe she would do that to her own father!" as he put an ice pack on his lower back.

"What an annoying little brat. Hope you are ready for her, Old Hag. Ahhh, my foot too!" he exclaimed hopping on his left foot, while holding his right foot with his left hand. His right hand was keeping the ice pack on his back. The man glared at the cat that had just bit his right foot because he was bad mouthing his mistress.

"Yeah. You had better be ready, Old Hag, because Echizen Rin is here," he groused out, as he crashed to the floor, unable to maintain his balance.

AN: So what do you guys think? I'll put up a name conversion list for the gender bending.


	2. Chapter 1: School Starts

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: I will be introducing an OC of mine. This will be the only OC of importance at this time because I always disliked stories that introduce too many. I can never remember them all so I stop reading the story. I also thought femRyo needed another female friend, since in middle school the genders still tended to stay a bit segregated by choice. So I figured the Ichinen Trio probably wouldn't hang out with her as much because she's a girl. Some of the dialog will be from POT chapter 2 manga.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 1: School Starts

"It's time for you to wake up, Echizen-san. School has ended."

Rin slowly opened her eyes, trying to focus on the female voice that had awakened her.

"_**If this girl was 10 cm taller, she would look like a librarian," **_thought Rin. Standing in front of her was a slim girl, 155 cm tall, with shoulder length black/blue hair curling outwards at the end (Think Nancy Drew's haircut), and small rectangular glasses.

"Ah, it looks like you're finally awake," as she pushed her glasses up.

Rin just glared at the unknown girl for waking her up. The taller girl ignored Rin's glare and pressed on.

"It is likely you don't remember my name, Echizen-san, since this is your first day in our class. My name is Inui Umi. I'm the class representative for 1-2." Rin slowly noticed that they were the only ones in the classroom as she started to wake up more.

"As you can see, class has ended. Minagawa-sensei (1) had instructed me to wake you and to remind you to try not to sleep in class again or he will be assigning you to classroom cleaning."

Rin mumbled a small thank you and slowly packed her things. Umi waited another minute to make sure Rin was fully awake before saying goodbye.

- Line Break -

Rin was still slightly annoyed that the taller girl had disrupted her sleep. She had gotten her things from her locker and had changed into black shorts, silver polo shirt, and white Fila cap. She was currently looking for the tennis courts to sign up for the club. As she walked around the corner she spotted the tennis courts. Only one appeared to be occupied. A couple of older boys were talking to another set of younger boys from her class.

"Hey, why don't you guys play a fun game with us," stated one of the older boys. The older boys then introduced themselves as second years, Hayashi and Ikeda, and proceeded to explain how the group could win money from them. The younger boys just had to hit the can 10 times to win 10,000 yen.

"10,000 yen! With my two years of tennis experience I will easily get that," exclaimed a boy with brown hair and a unibrow.

The boys then proceeded to try to hit the can. None of the shots hit the can.

"One more shot by the Great Horio." Horio by some stroke of luck managed to hit the side of the can.

"Ah! Skinned it! What a waste! Looks like I'm done," as he pulled out 200 yen.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding," said Hayashi as he turned the can around. The slip of paper explained that it was only 200 yen as an entry fee, with each shot costing 500 yen. The three first years stared in shock. They then started to complain about not having all the rules explained to them.

"Hey, you over there! Don't watch, give it a try. Or are you just trying to save yourself from humiliation like these three," taunted Ikeda.

"Che, hitting the can wouldn't work anyways because it probably has rocks in it," as Rin served a ball. The ball hit the very top of the can, knocking off the cover.

"It really did have rocks in it!" exclaimed the taller of the first years.

"You bitch," Iyeda stated, as Rin started to hit the can again and again.

"Hey. If I hit it 100 times will I get 1,000,000 yen?" she stated calmly.

"Wow, who knew a girl could be so good," stated Horio. A ball suddenly hit his face and knocked him down.

"Sorry, I must have hit the can too hard and it bounced into his face." A slight glint could be seen in Rin's eyes as she glared at Horio. All the boys backed away just a bit. A ball suddenly flew out and crumpled the can.

"Oh! I hit it! Lucky~" stated a tall boy with spiked up hair. He turned to the older boys. "Just because none of the third years are here, you think it's ok to pick on your kohai? Plus you were picking on a girl kohai at that. You can't do that. You can't."

"_**That second year has a lot of power to crush the can full of rocks,"**_thought Rin.

"Hey. How about a game with your sempai, Cutie?" stated the older boy. Rin developed a slight tick in her eye from being called Cutie.

"_**He is so going down."**_

*1: Minagawa is the last name of the Echizen Ryoma's Seiyu in the anime.


	3. Chapter 2: Coed Tennis?

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material

AN: I want to thank all that have added my story as a favorite even though I've only written one chapter. I apologize ahead of time for this chapter's tennis. Sorry, but I don't really play tennis. I just love this manga/anime. Please don't expect a great description of the tennis play. I'll be borrowing from the manga a lot in terms of how the game goes.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 2: Co-ed Tennis?

"Neh, Sakuno-chan I think I hear some people over by the tennis courts. Let's go see!" stated a girl with two high pigtails.

"Ano…, Tomo-chan," said another girl with long, brown braids.

"Come on Sakuno-chan!" as she dragged Sakuno by her hand to the tennis courts. They saw an older boy and several of their classmates. "Oh, Sakuno-chan, that new girl from Class 1-2 is talking to that cute second year!"

"That's Echizen Rin. Obaasan said Echizen-san is a really great tennis player from America." *sigh* "I want to be a great tennis player just like Echizen-san, so Obaasan won't be disappointed in my tennis," Sakuno wistfully said.

"Sakuno-chan! You need to be more confident to help your tennis. Why don't we see what's happening over there? We can introduce ourselves to her. You can learn tennis from her, while I go find out how she got a second year to talk to her!" as hearts appeared in Tomoka's eyes. Sakuno sweat dropped.

Over by the courts….

"So what do you say, Cutie? How about a game?" said the tall older boy.

"Stop calling me Cutie, Sempai," stated the now annoyed Rin.

"Hoo. I forgot to tell you my name didn't I, Cutie? Can't have you calling me only Sempai. I just can't. My name is Momoshiro Takeshi, Second Year. But you can call me Momo-chan or Momo-Sempai." Momoshiro winked at Rin. "Now what's your name?"

"Echizen Rin," as she readjusted her cap. Momoshiro snapped his fingers.

"Ah! You're the one Ryuzaki-sensei talked about with Fuji-sempai and Tezuka-buchou. Now I definitely want to play against you. You supposedly know the Twist Serve." Everyone present looked surprised by this information.

"What's a Twist Serve?" said the first year with the bowl hair cut.

"Don't you know anything about tennis Kachiro? Generally speaking it's the reverse of the slice serve that turns left. But in tennis, unlike the slice, it bounds when there is a top spin," showing a rare bit of knowledge on Horio's part.

"In other words, the ball flies towards your face. What a scary move. Not many underclassmen can pull off a move like that. Eh?" said Momoshiro.

"Hurry up already," sighed out Rin. She had already walked to the other side of the court.

"Fine." **"What a rude girl."** '

"Which?" as Momoshiro spun his racquet.

"Smooth." The racquet landed with the M upside down.

"Too bad. Rough. But since I'm such a nice sempai, I'll let you go ahead. I want to see your Twist Serve right away." Everyone noticed that Momoshiro suddenly became rather serious.

"The best of one set! Echizen service play!" shouted out Horio from the judging chair.

Rin started out with a slice serve that flew past Momoshiro and out of the court.

"Wow, Sakuno-chan you're right. She is really good," as Tomoka paid more attention.

"Hey, I don't want a slice serve. Let me see the Twist Serve!" shouted Momoshiro from across the court.

"Yadda"

"**What a brat. She may be cute, but her attitude makes her annoying,"** as Momoshiro readied himself for the next serve.

He had noticed her stance was different from the last serve. Rin jumped up and with her right hand sent the ball into Momoshiro's side of the court. The ball bounced in front of Momoshiro and went flying towards his face. Momoshiro quickly moved the racquet in front of him. The flight path of the ball startled Momoshiro into loosing his grip on the racquet. Everyone watching was stunned by the results of the now revealed Twist Serve.

"That scared me a bit," as Momoshiro composed himself and picked up his racquet.

"30 – 0"

"Are you ok, Sempai?" Everyone could tell she didn't really care one way or the other about Momoshiro's wellbeing.

"**That brat… That ball was a lot sharper than I thought it would be. I guess I'll have to go for it when it spins."** Momoshiro positioned himself to try to return the ball after it bounces. He was able to make contact with the ball. Unfortunately, he didn't have the right momentum in his racquet swing to return the ball. The game proceeded as Momoshiro tried to figure out how to return the ball.

"Game, 1 – 0! Echizen leads!"

"How can Momoshiro be overpowered like this! He's a member of the Regular team!" Hayashi and Ikeda stared on with disbelief. The pair continued to play against each other.

"That person is starting to receive her serves," Sakuno stated as she and Tomoka continued to watch the match. It was true too. It looked like Momoshiro was starting to follow the path of the ball, and had finally figured out a way to return it. Rin sent another Twist Serve towards Momoshiro. To everyone's amazement he was able to return it. His victory was short-lived. Rin immediately returned the ball with a drop volley. Thus scoring the point.

"_**Ho… Not bad. This guy can't be taken lightly,"**_ Rin readjusted her cap.

"**I got to finish this game**." Momoshiro looked across to his opponent. Rin then twirled her racquet and caught it with her left hand, surprising Momoshiro. **"That brat has been playing me with her non-dominant hand this whole time. She knew that I injured my ankle. She must have been looking out for me as her sempai."**

"Wait! Time! That's enough. We can stop the game now. I'll let you go with this, heh."

Rin just shrugged and walked off the court.

"You can't let her go like that. The other freshmen will disrespect their second year sempai now," said Ikeda. "If your ankle wasn't injured you probably would have beaten her."

"No she knew I was injured from the beginning," Ikeda and Hayashi just stood there in disbelief as Momoshiro walked away.

"**I can't wait to see how far she'll go in next week's ranking matches."**

- Line Break -

Rin was putting away her racquet, when the other freshman started to talk to her.

"Wow! You are really good to be able to play evenly with that second year. Oh yeah, my name is Horio Satoshi." Horio then pointed to the taller first year next to him. "That's Mizuno Katsuo and Kato Kachiro," as he pointed to the other boy with the bowl hair cut. "We're in your class Echizen-san, but you were asleep for most of it. You probably don't remember us."

"Hi there! I'm Osakada Tomoka from Class 1-1. This is my friend Ryuzaki Sakuno." Tomoka slowly walked up to Rin and whispered to Rin, "So…. How did you get Momoshiro-sempai to talk to you? You can share your secret between us girls."

"Tomo-chan…." Sakuno looked rather nervous about how Rin would react.

"There is a 90% chance that Momoshiro-san saw Echizen-san's tennis skills and wanted to challenge her," as Umi popped up behind the group.

"Wah! Don't come up behind people like that! How long have you been watching us?" Horio covered his heart with his hand.

"Yeah! Plus it is rude to eavesdrop like that! Besides who are you and why are you dressed like that?" as Tomoka puffed up in agitation.

"Saa. Sumimasen. I just thought you would like your question to Echizen-san to be answered, Osakada-san. There was only a 2% chance that Echizen-san would say anything at all." Umi pushed her glasses up as she looked up from a blue composition notebook. "And to answer your first question. I'm Inui Umi, Class 1-2 rep. You can all call me Umi as there is an 85% chance that all but one of you will be in the tennis club. It will prevent confusion when addressing me and my Oni-chan, Inui Sadaharu, who is on the Regular team. To answer your second question, I just got out of dance club."

Everyone realized she never bothered answering Horio's question.

Umi was wearing a black leotard, with a thin, light blue wrap skirt around her waist, and white tights. Her hair was in two low pigtails held together with clips. Ballet pointe shoes could be seen sticking out of a dark blue duffel bag on her left shoulder. Tomoka flushed a bit, since she could now see it was rather obvious that Umi was dressed like a dancer.

"Anyways, I will also be joining tennis club. Dance club only meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I don't plan on signing up for any dance competitions this year, since I hope to be a Regular on the tennis team with my Oni-chan," surprising the other freshman.

"Wait what do you mean on the Regular team with your brother? You're a girl. How can you be a Regular?" asked Katsuo, looked rather confused.

"No. The girls play with the boys now. It started last school year," said Sakuno. "I remember Obaasan complaining about how the schools and the tennis association wanted to cut costs." Sakuno flushed, remembering how her grandmother had cussed out a few people over the phone during that time.

"That is correct Ryuzaki-san. However, it wasn't just tennis that this had occurred. A lot of the Japanese sports associations didn't have enough funding to support separate tournaments for boys and girls. So, the associations proposed to the school districts a cost savings plan. All non-contact sports would become co-ed, like track, basketball, and tennis. Sports like rugby and wrestling would remain gender segregated. This way the sports associations only has to spend money on one set of tournaments, while the schools can save money by only having one coach and supply spending," as Umi set her bag down after realizing she would need to explain quite a bit.

"Oh, so that means there can be girl Regulars?" Kachiro asked.

"Actually all teams must include both genders. So you can't have an all male or female team. A team must have at least one boy or girl to qualify," Umi closed her notebook after jotting down something. "Thus it is guaranteed that at least one girl will make it onto the Regular team."

"Isn't that great Echizen-san. You could make it onto the Regular team!" Horio stated. "Eh, where did she go?" The others noticed Rin had left.

"She left as I was explaining about why the tennis team is mixed genders."

"WHAT!"

AN: I had said in my profile that Umi had the social skills not to have to stalk. Doesn't mean she doesn't stalk for fun. ;) Probably won't update till next week at the earliest.


	4. Chapter 3: Reflections

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 3: Reflection

"Baka Oyaji, play against me," stated Rin as she pointed her racquet at her father. Rin was rather unsatisfied with her incomplete game with Momoshiro. So much so, she was willing to play a game against him. Even though Rin knew it would still end with her losing to her father.

"Heh. Since when do you ask me for a match?" Echizen Nanjiro continued to look down at the women's swimsuit magazine in front of him. He was wearing the same rumpled, black monk's outfit from the previous week. Nanjiro finally looked up when he did not hear Rin walk away. Rin's golden eyes burned with an emotion he had not seen in a long time. Determination.

*sigh* "_Alright you runt_," Nanjiro slowly got up from his laying position on the ground. He made a big production of stretching out every muscle to prolong Rin's wait. Finally he grabbed a tennis racquet lying behind him.

The two walked outside to the tennis court in the backyard. Rin did some practice swings with her racquet as Nanjiro stooped down to pick up a ball.

"Oy, you serve," as a ball was casually thrown to Rin. She lazily caught the ball with her racquet.

She started out with her Twist Serve. The ball soared over the net and landed in front of Nanjiro. It immediately bounced towards his face. Nanjiro didn't even bat an eye as the ball flew towards him. He easily returned the ball; a completely opposite picture of Momoshiro's attempts at returning the Twist Serve earlier in the day.

"You got to do better than that. I'll even give you a handicap," as Nanjiro closed his eyes. This just annoyed Rin, since she felt he never took her seriously. They continued to rally with Rin desperately trying to get the first point, while her father's eyes remained closed.

"Play me seriously, you annoying Oyaji!" she shouted from across the court.

"Not until you answer the question I always ask you when you want me to play seriously." He continued to play with his eyes closed humming some nameless tune.

Rin didn't answer his question as she had become more and more frustrated by her inability to score against her father. She was getting tired from chasing after the ball. Rin had even resorted to using her Split Step Technique, to keep up with the ball.

A circular path could be seen in the dirt around Nanjiro, caused by the shifting of weight from one foot to another. He had not moved from his spot for over twenty minutes.

"What does tennis mean to you?" as he performed a drop volley. The same drop volley Rin had executed against Momoshiro. Rin ran towards the net to try to return the volley. However, her exhaustion caught up to her before she could catch up to the ball. She ended up sprawled on the ground. Her racquet was only a few centimeters away from reaching the ball. Rin just stared at the ball as she laid on the ground thinking about the irony of her lost point.

"Well, what does tennis mean to you, Brat?" as Nanjiro looked down at his daughter. Rin couldn't come up with an answer and just looked at the ball in front of her.

"When you can answer that question, we can have a real match." Nanjiro walked back inside the house.

- Line Break -

Rin was sitting in her bathtub thinking over the events that had happened on her first day in school and comparing it to her life in the America.

She didn't have many friends, while she lived in the U.S. The friends she did have weren't tennis players. Other kids who played tennis at her school always got angry or jealous over how she kept beating them. To them, Rin was younger, smaller, or a girl. They could not understand how she was able to beat them. Her peers started saying her wins were because her opponents went easy on her, instead of her skills.

This confused Rin because she couldn't understand why they felt the need to put her down when she beat her opponents fairly. She used to let the other players score some points, so the game didn't look like a complete shut out. This was to give her opponents some dignity in losing the match. Unfortunately, this just added more trouble for Rin, as her peers' taunts became more vicious. None of the tennis players in her school wanted to be seen associating with her. None of them wanted to be her friend. They hated her for her skill and the ease in which she kept beating them.

Finally Rin got fed up with their behavior. She decided that if they were going to be mad at her, then she would give them a reason to be mad. Rin started to win the matches more quickly. Games were won without her opponent scoring a single point. She projected a cocky persona to the world to get back at the other players. The act became so much a part of her that she forgot to play a game without it.

When she decided to play in the Junior Tennis Tournaments in America, she asked her father to sign her up as a boy. At first he didn't want to because it would require him to actually use his name to pull some strings with the US Tennis Association, but Rin convinced him to do it. She argued that she wanted to know for sure that her opponents were not going easy on her due to her gender. She had to know if the taunts were true. She had to know if the other players just saw a little girl and did not have the heart to play seriously against her. So she cut her hair short, and wore her unisex clothing during her matches.

She won four consecutive Junior Tennis Tournaments as a boy. The US Tennis Association finally told Nanjiro in none too polite terms that if Rin wanted to play the following year, she would then have to play registered as her real gender. It was becoming too much of a hassle to keep the secret from going public. It didn't matter though, because Rin had her answer. Through those tournaments, Rin found out that she did have the skills to beat the best of her age group and beyond. However, she also found out that the players seemed to play her more fiercely as a boy. They really didn't hold back anything in order to win. The memories of the realization still hurt like a gaping wound; even she sat in the now cooling bathtub.

Today had been different. Unlike in the US, her peers had wanted to talk to her after she had showed off some of her tennis skills. They had complimented her. She was so taken aback by the gesture; she didn't know how to respond to their introductions. The group had made her uncomfortable by their actions. Rin was actually glad, Librarian-chan, had distracted them enough to let her slip away. Although, she could have sworn Librarian-chan gave her an imperceptible nod of acknowledgement as Rin made her escape. If the girl ran interference again for her in a similar situation, she may overlook her annoyance at being woken up earlier in the day.

She then thought about the second year she had played against. Momo something.

"_**I guess I'll have to call him Sempai or that horrible nickname of Momo-sempai. Seriously, what guy wants to be called Peach?"**_

She had actually enjoyed playing against him because she could see he was trying to improve during their game. He had taken her seriously; even though, Rin was his kohai and a girl.

This was the reason why she had wanted to come to Japan. She had read online about how the girls and boys teams in the middle school divisions were being merged to save costs after her fourth Junior Tournament win. Rin avidly watched some of the posted matches that showed opposite genders playing against each other. What she saw amazed her. The better players showed no difference in play style when it came to playing against the opposite gender. It didn't matter to them if you were a girl or a boy, just if you could play tennis well. She still saw some of the weaker players going easy on the girls. Of course, those same players soundly lost to said girls.

A small smile formed on Rin's lips. She was finally in a place where only your tennis skilled mattered in the match.

"_**I can't wait till tomorrow."**_

AN: A bit more back story and a glimpse into Rin's thoughts. I felt this was a good place to stop. I also spaced the wording more in this chapter for an easier read. I have most of the next chapter planned out. I just haven't written it yet. Later.


	5. Chapter 4: Lost and Found

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: I spend a lot of time driving and sitting in traffic. I've come to realize it is a good time to go over what I plan to write next. Unfortunately for you readers, I don't really proofread my writing too much before I post it. I look it over while I'm bored at work and do minor corrections to the chapters I've already posted. I just changed a few words and spellings here and there. I was always of the school of thought that faster updates were better than longer waits with long chapters. The shortened wait gives you something to look forward to. Plus you are less likely to forget what happened in the last chapter. Anyways, enjoy this chapter.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 4: Lost and Found

Rin was rather angry at her father at the moment. She had already been mildly annoyed last night after their "game." The question that he asked still lingered in the back of her mind adding to the aggravation.

**"What does tennis mean to you?"** kept echoing in her mind.

"_**Ignore it. It's just Oyaji messing with you like always. Like what he did this morning."**_

Nanjiro had received a call from Ryuzaki-sensei, while she was in the bath the previous night. The call was to inform Rin that tennis practice started the following day. Nanjiro didn't inform Rin of the phone call, nor did he wake her up for the usual morning practice time until the very last minute. Rin was currently sprinting as fast as she could to Seishun Gakuen to make it in time for morning practice. She didn't even have time to eat anything before she left the house.

"_**He said that the Old Hag always started practice at 7AM sharp."**_

Even though Rin had pushed her match with her father to the back of her mind; her legs still ached with pain from the previous night as she ran to morning practice. Rin arrived a few minutes before morning practice was scheduled to start, to find the courts empty.

- Flashback -

*Ring, Ring*

"Moshi moshi"

"Oy, Nanjiro. Let me talk to Rin-chan," said an elderly female voice on the phone.

"Why do you need to talk to her, Old Hag?" was Nanjiro's yawned out response.

"OLD HAG! Why you! Don't think that I'm too old to come over there and beat you down with a tennis racquet, Gaki!" shouted a rather irate Ryuzaki Sumire.

"Whatever. Don't hurt yourself, Old… Hag….." Nanjiro drawled out the last two words.

"Hopefully your daughter took after Rinko-chan, instead of a hentai baka like you. Or else my team is doomed."

"Get to the point. You're wasting my minutes."

"Fine. Make sure Rin knows that there is tennis practice tomorrow and…."

"Will do. Bye Old Hag," Nanjiro immediately hung up before she could retort or finish her statement.

*sigh* **"I wasn't able to tell that Baka we only had afternoon practice. I gave the Regulars some time off because of today's practice matches with Ginza. Plus, I need to grade the third years' math homework. Oh well, if Rin is anything like Rinko, then I want to be there when she gets revenge."**

End Flashback –

Rin just stared out to the empty courts in confusion, before she noticed a slip of paper posted to one of the court gates.

The paper read:

NO MORNING PRACTICE

Regulars were given the morning off

Will be in Lounge grading papers

Submit club forms BEFORE afternoon practice at 1500

Scrawled at the bottom of the paper there was a second message:

You little punks better not mess with the courts while I'm away.

Rin sweat dropped at the last message. Her mind flashing to yesterday's events; before her tired mind finally processed the first message. If she had been mad at her father before, this just made her furious.

"_**Oyaji your hentai stash is as good as gone!"**_ Thoughts of Karupin shredding the magazines, bonfires, and other methods of destruction danced in her head.

Back at the Echizen household, a cold chill went up Nanjiro's spine. He immediately shrugged it off and went back to leering at the picture in his newest swimsuit magazine.

- Line Break –

Rin shuffled around the campus in a zombie walk due to hunger and sleep deprivation. She was slowly trying to get her brain to remember where the teacher's lounge was that the note had referred to. She didn't really pay attention when the principal had given her a brief tour of the school yesterday. As she made her way towards the direction she thought was the Lounge, she spotted a brunette with two long braids reaching almost to her knees. Rin remembered that the girl had been with the louder girl after her impromptu match with Momoshiro.

"_**What was her name again? She may know where the Old Hag is. Her name was something like the Old Hag's name,"**_ as Rin's inability to remember names came into play.

_**"Doesn't matter she spotted me anyways."**_

"Ohayo Echizen-san," Sakuno stated softly as she fidgeted with her bag.

*yawn* "Do you know where the Lounge is?" as Rin valiantly tried to fight off sleep.

"Ano….. I think it was that way," and pointed in the opposite direction that Rin was planning on going.

"Arigato." Rin sluggishly made her way down the hallway that Sakuno had pointed to.

A short time later Tomoka came out of the restroom that Sakuno had been standing in front of when Rin had passed by.

"Ok, Sakuno-chan lets head off to the Lounge so you can go turn in your tennis form. I can't believe you forgot to give it to your Obaa-san last night," as Tomoka shook her head. Tomoka proceeded to go in the opposite direction that Sakuno had just directed Rin to go in.

"Wait, Tomo-chan, isn't the Lounge that way." Sakuno pointed in the opposite direction.

"Of course not, Sakuno-chan. That just leads you back to the front entrance."

"Oh no! I just told Echizen-san that was the way to the Lounge," Sakuno tugged on her braids. She mentally reprimanded herself over her bad directional sense. "We have to go look for her. I need to apologize and you can take us both to the Lounge."

The two set off to go look for the wayward Rin.

Thirty minutes later….

Rin had finally found the Lounge after receiving Sakuno's bad directions. Rin had ended up wandering the hallways again, once she had been lead to the front entrance. A passing third year took pity on Rin and dropped her off in front of the Lounge.

"Oh, there you are. Sakuno-chan and Tomoka-chan had passed by earlier looking for you. Sakuno-chan was very upset about giving you the wrong directions. She wanted to find you and apologize immediately. She is in Class 1-1 if you want to stop by before she worries herself to death about you," stated Ryuzaki as she took the form from Rin.

Rin just nodded her head and made her way to class. She immediately plopped into her desk. Her arms rested on the desktop as she lowered her head for a quick nap before class started. A growling noise emanating from her stomach echoed through the classroom before she could fall asleep. Her peers just looked at her strangely before return to their conversations. Luckily, the class was still relatively empty.

She felt a cold can placed in her hand. Rin shifted her head so she could see what it was. A small can of orange juice was currently grasped in her left hand. She finally sat up to look at the person who gave it to her. It was Librarian-chan holding a melon pan towards her. The melon pan seemed to glow with an ethereal light, like it was Kami's gift to Rin in her hungered state. Rin took the melon pan after her stomach growled again.

"Arigato"

"My name's Umi. There is a 95% chance you have forgotten it already." Rin sweat dropped for the second time that day, but could not find fault with the other girl's statement. Rin tried to put the name to the face into her long term memory, but Librarian-chan kept popping up instead. Rin gave up after a little bit. They still had the whole school year for her to eventually remember it.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno is notorious for having a horrible directional sense. There is a 100% chance that a person will never reach their destination if they follow Ryuzaki-san's navigations. So don't be too mad with her, Echizen-san." Umi sat down at the desk just to the left of Rin's current position. Umi took out a dance magazine to read, as Rin ate her breakfast.

Rin didn't even bother to think about how Umi knew about her detoured route to find Ryuzaki-sensei, or how the girl knew to have a snack for her. She just thought about how good the melon pan tasted and wondered if she could have a stash of Japanese pastries somewhere nearby in case her cousin, Nanako, made a Western breakfast. It seemed like a good compromise between a Western and Japanese breakfast.

"Hey, why have you been quoting percentages? You did that yesterday too," as curiosity finally required Rin to ask, after completing her small meal.

"Oh you will find out soon enough," Umi stated rather casually to Rin. Umi's glasses suddenly seemed to glint with a sinister light before it quickly returned to normal. Rin just concluded that the vision was due to her sleep deprivation, and the percentages were just one of Umi's personality quirks. So she allowed herself to drift off to sleep before their sensei arrived. Besides if Umi was able to predict when she needed food or other important things like sleep, why question it?

AN: I felt it was good to stop it here. Hope you guys don't mind. Sorry if you feel the story is progressing too slowly. I'll try make the next one more action packed. This was more for light comedy.


	6. Chapter 5: Lunch with the Flower Four?

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Sorry this chapter does not have the action I promised. This chapter would have been longer, but I was trying to resolve internet issues earlier today. Thought I should at least put this small tidbit out before going to sleep, now that my internet is working again.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 5: Lunch with the Flower Four?

Rin went through the morning classes in a daze. Since she did not want to be on classroom cleaning duty, Rin forced herself to stay awake. Thoughts on how to torture her father helped to pass the time. When she had gotten to Plan 184: Paste cut out clothing into her father's swimsuit magazines, it was time for lunch. That was when she realized in the rush to get to school, the delicious bento her cousin, Nanako, had made was left behind on the kitchen counter. Plan 185: Give all vendors Nanjiro's photo and pay them not to sell any magazines to him, was born.

"_**Time to find the cafeteria"**_ as her stomach growled angrily. The melon pan from earlier that morning was but faint memory. Rin looked around expecting Umi to magically appear with a bento for her.

*sigh* _**"I guess it would a little too weird if Librarian-chan had a bento too."**_

Rin made her way to the classroom door, snaking around a large group of giggling girls who were mooning over the latest teen heartthrob magazine. The girls blocked the three boys from yesterday at spotting her leaving the classroom. She preferred to avoid them, as one of them (*cough* Horio) seemed loud and annoying. The hallway had a few other students milling around chatting, or eating with their friends from different classrooms. Rin was passing by Class 1-1 when she heard her name called.

"Echizen-san! Wait, please," a soft but firm voice called out. Rin stopped to look. Sakuno was standing by the doorway to a classroom.

"Gomen, Echizen-san for giving you bad directions," as Sakuno bowed profusely.

"Che, it's fine… um."

"Oh, sorry it's Ryuzaki Sakuno. Have you eaten yet? You can share some of my lunch with me." Sakuno gestured to a nicely packed bento containing chicken kaarage, salad, rice, and a fruit salad. Parts of the fruit salad was even arranged to look like a happy face, with grapes for eyes, a cherry nose, and an apple slice for a mouth. Before Rin could answer, her stomach answered for her with another growl.

"Ano… I'll take that as a no. You can join me and Tomo-chan then." Sakuno gently took Rin's hand and guided her to a desk next to Tomoka.

"Ohayo, Echizen-san. Too bad I wasn't there earlier this morning to stop Sakuno-chan from pointing you in the wrong direction," Tomoka was getting her bento out as well.

"I asked Echizen-san to join us since it looked like she was going to buy lunch. Ano… if that's ok with you, Tomo-chan," Sakuno looked rather unsure of Tomoka's reaction of inviting Rin without asking beforehand.

"Of course Sakuno-chan. The more the merrier. Plus you can tell us all about what it's like in America. Sakuno-chan said her Obaasan mentioned you were from America."

Rin was reaching for the apple slice when another voice cut in.

"Ah. There you are Echizen-san. I did not realize you did not bring a lunch as well. A miscalculation on my part." Umi was standing by the doorway with her own bento box in hand. "Would it be alright to join you as well?"

Tomoka didn't look too sure, but Rin answered first.

"Whatever. Go ahead."

"Arigato. I had to go get something from my Oni-chan." The girls quickly arranged four desks to face each other. Sakuno, Tomoka, and Umi chatted about how the day was going so far, while Rin looked dreamily at the food in front of her.

"Inui-san, did you submit a club form to Obaasan already?" as Sakuno divided the food up amongst the girls. Rin was able to snag some fruit and chicken from Sakuno, rice and carrot sticks from Umi, and some noodles from Tomoka.

"Hai. Also please call me Umi, Ryuzaki-san. It will be less confusing later," as Umi scribbled a few notes in a notebook in between bites of food.

"Oh, it isn't fair for me to call you by your first name. You can call me Sakuno."

"How about we all call each other by our first names? They do that in America, neh Echizen-san?" Tomoka attempted to draw Rin into the conversation.

"Hai," Rin finally paid attention to the conversation, now that she had finished her donated food. Rin was still surprised by how nice these girls were being to her, even though she only met them the day before. This just cemented into her mind that moving to Japan was the right choice. It would still take a little bit of time to get used to it, but she decided to take a big step for her. She decided to try to be friends with these girls.

"Would it be easier for you to remember our names if you could address us by our first names, Echizen-san?" Umi pushed her glasses back up with her right hand.

"Hai, I'm used to being addressed as Rin anyways."

"It's settled then. All of us can address each other by our first names. We will be friends through out our time at Seigaku. We'll be known as Seigaku's Tennis Queens or Flower Four like in Hana yori Dango. Only our Flower Four would be all girls, instead of boys. And boys will have fan clubs dedicated to each of us…" plans for the future of the group continued to be rattled off by Tomoka.

"Is she always like this?" asked Rin. Sakuno could only nod.

"I thought you weren't joining the tennis club because of your siblings," Umi bravely stated.

"Details, details," Tomoka waved off Umi's statement. Although she didn't remember ever telling anyone other than Sakuno about how she couldn't join the tennis club in order to baby sit her younger siblings. Tomoka proceeded to daydream about how popular the group would become. Their peers seemed to scoot away from Tomoka the more she talked about the group. Rin and Umi sweat dropped from Tomoka's antics, while Sakuno tried to shrink into the background. Rin started to wonder if maybe she should rethink the idea of having friends. Being a loner didn't sound so bad anymore.

AN: Don't worry I won't make this a crossover fic. I just like referencing random manga now and then. Next chapter will be out soon barring any more internet issues. Please read and review. I don't mind critiques.


	7. Chapter 6: Racquet Thief

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: This is just a reminder that I don't really play tennis or watch too much of it. I tried to do my homework to make it sound like I know what I'm talking about. So please let me know if I got anything wrong, so I can correct it. Also let me know if my explanation of the inter-ranking matches was confusing to you. I will try to explain better in the later chapters when they start. This is an extra long chapter. I couldn't find a good place to cut it. Anyways hope you all enjoy.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 6: Racquet Thief

Practice was finally about to begin. Rin was waiting outside of the girl's locker room for Sakuno and Umi. She had quickly changed into black shorts, a white shirt with red sleeves, and her ever-present white Fila cap. Sakuno was the next to come out. She had changed into a pink shirt with a white tennis skirt, and black bicycle shorts. Rin shook her head when Sakuno's hair was still in the two long braids. The braids would get in the way during practice, but Rin wanted Sakuno to learn on her own to put her hair up. Umi took the longest to get ready. She had changed into a blue shirt with dark gray yoga pants. The reason she took so long was because of her hair. She had put it into the same two low pigtails as the previous day. It had taken awhile to make sure her hair wouldn't come undone during practice. The three girls grouped together while waiting for practice to begin in front of the tennis courts.

The other freshmen girls were commenting on each other's outfits, and on any cute boys in the club. Upperclassmen were seen milling around. A few were boasting about how they would make it to the Regular team next week. Rin noticed there weren't many female upperclassmen, but didn't comment. It just made her wonder though about where most of them were. The freshmen boys were congregated around Horio. He was talking about the match between Rin and Momoshiro.

"There is no way Echizen could beat Momoshiro-sempai in a real match. He is a Seigaku Regular. The only reason she did so well was because he had injured his ankle. Plus she is a girl; he probably went easy on her."

Sakuno and Umi had to convince Rin not to severely injure Horio. Meaning they were physically holding her back, as she looked ready to do something Horio would regret. He had unwittingly brought up a sore subject for Rin.

"Violence doesn't solve anything, Rin-chan." Sakuno tried to reason with Rin, as the girls struggled to keep Rin from harming Horio. Umi's argument was what actually kept Rin in check.

"If you hurt him, you will be kicked out of the club, Rin-chan. No matter how much he deserves it."

Horio had quickly changed the subject when he saw the murderous glint in Rin's eyes and the amount of effort needed to keep her at bay.

"Ah…. Did you guys know that the inter-ranking matches start next week? That's the reason why Seigaku's tennis is so strong. They hold one every month." Horio hoped this information would keep Rin from hurting him. The other boys quickly talked about how they wanted to try out in the inter-ranking matches, as they moved away from the three girls. Rin had calmed down enough by then.

"Ignore him, but he is actually right about the inter-ranking matches starting next week." Sakuno had made that statement, in hopes of keeping Rin's focus away from Horio.

"Yes the girls and boys have separate inter-ranking matches, before the best eight players of each gender play against each other." Umi currently had her blue notebook out again.

"Hai, although due to time constraints the strongest eight aren't decided by playing full matches," Sakuno tried to explain. This piqued Rin's interest since she wanted to know how the matches were played.

"The gender separated matches play like a tie break game. First to seven points wins, it does not matter if there isn't a two point difference between the players when the seven points are reached. Each person plays two tie break-like games. A player has a different opponent per a game. You don't necessarily have to win the games in order to be determined the strongest for the next round." Umi continued to skimmed through her notebook looking for something.

"The matches are just to see your skills. Both the winner and the loser from a game could both be sent to the next round if they showed enough skills. Winning and losing matters when the genders mix again." Sakuno explained.

"Ah, here it is. After the best are chosen, they are split up into four groups of two boys and two girls. They then play a round robin amongst the group. The two players with the most wins in the group are chosen as part of the eight Regulars for the team." Umi seemed to be pointing at something in her notebook. "If there is an injury of more than two players, someone from the best of sixteen is chosen as a replacement until the next inter-ranking matches."

"So who chooses our opponents?" asked Rin.

"Fuji-sempai and Tezuka-buchou." Umi had pointed to a stunning third year girl talking to a glasses-wearing third year boy. The girl had a serene smile on her face and light brown hair lying straight past her shoulders. What confused Rin was that the girl appeared to have her eyes closed, but was easily navigating around obstacles as the two walked together. The boy was rather tall with wind swept, dark brown hair. If Rin didn't know any better she would have thought the boy was a high school student or teacher visiting the club because of how old he looked. However, both were wearing a Regulars jacket.

"Fuji Shuuko is known as the Rose of Seigaku. She is also a tensai when it comes to tennis. With her looks and sharp mind, it makes her a beautiful, but deadly opponent on the courts," Umi stated, as she flipped a page in a red notebook. The other two girls just sweat dropped.

**"Ano... wasn't her notebook blue?"**

_**"Is she looking through another notebook? Where did the other one go?"**_

The two decided to put off questioning where Umi kept the notebooks for another time since Umi was still talking.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu is Seigaku's buchou. He was also buchou last year. He is considered a National-Level player. No one knows which of the two are stronger. They have never had a serious match between each other." Umi continued in her introductions.

_**"Ho, finally a challenge."**_ Rin was rather excited to play against tennis players that were supposed be some of the best in Japan. She couldn't wait to play.

*Clap* "Minna, practice is going to begin," a boy with an odd bowl haircut and two bangs stated to everyone.

"He's Oishi Shuichiro, the fuku-buchou. One part of the Golden Pair, which is considered one of the best doubles combinations ever made. He also changes his hair style at the start of every school year" Rin and Sakuno were starting to get rather disturbed by the amount of detail Umi had on the Regulars.

Everyone quickly lined up in front of Oishi and Tezuka. A few boys and Fuji could be seen standing behind the pair. All of them were wearing Regulars jackets.

"I want to welcome all the new members that we have. If you need help with anything please let me know. You should not feel afraid in coming to your sempai," Oishi smiled warmly to the freshmen. Many of the girls blushed at Oishi's smile. Oishi continued, oblivious to the reaction, "Juniors and Seniors please set up the nets and start drills. Freshmen please collect the balls for today."

Tezuka and Oishi then turned around to discuss some things with the Regulars. The freshmen groaned and a couple grumbled about how they joined to play tennis, not to pick up tennis balls. Sakuno quickly tried to pick up a nearby ball with her hand, but tripped over her braid.

"Daijoubu, Sakuno-chan?" Rin surprised herself in that she remembered a name. Although she was starting to feel bad about not saying anything about Sakuno's hair. The other two girls helped Sakuno up. Umi then took a few clips out of her own hair and forcibly turned Sakuno around. Rin and Umi eventually decided to twirl the two braids into buns and clipped them so it wouldn't get into Sakuno's way.

"Next time put your hair up or cut it. It's too long." Rin stated as she turned towards Umi. wondering what she was up to.

Umi had a racquet in her right hand. Using the gut of the racquet, Umi casually leaned down and tapped a ball. The ball bounced off the ground. Umi hit the ball a bit harder on its way up, causing the ball to bounce high enough for her to catch it with her left hand. She then walked to the closest basket and dropped the ball in. Umi proceeded to do the same thing to the next ball.

Rin saw this as a challenge. Rin positioned the arch of her left foot against a tennis ball. Using her racquet in her right hand, she popped the ball and caught it with her left hand. She then tossed it over her shoulder. The ball soared through the air and landed neatly into a basket behind Rin. A smirk graced Rin's face.

**_"Beat that Librarian-chan."_**

A few of the other club members had started to notice how skilled the girls were in obtaining the tennis balls and had stopped to look at what Umi would do next.

**"I wish I could be that graceful,"** was Sakuno's thoughts as she looked at the two. Sakuno couldn't see herself ever being that good.

The sun seemed to glint off Umi's glasses before a smile appeared on her face. Umi placed the right side of her right foot next to a tennis ball. She then used the racquet like Rin to draw the ball up as she bent her right knee to lift her right foot up. This made the ball come up and behind Umi's back. Her left hand darted behind her back and caught the ball. Umi then tossed it over Rin and into the same basket as Rin's previous ball.

A murmur could be heard going around the tennis club.

"Did you see that?"

"She didn't even look behind to catch it."

"With my two years of experience I can easily do any of those tricks."

Rin was starting to get excited now. This was the first time she had met another girl the same age as her that came even close to her skills. Rin decided to pull out the show stopper. Still using her right hand, Rin scooped up a ball with the rim of her racquet, backhanded. She then twirled her racquet counter-clockwise so the ball went from being on her backhand side to her forehand side. The ball was then hit with a forehanded swing into the basket. There was stunned silence as Rin continued to pick up the balls with her backhanded scoops.

*Scoop* *Twirl* *Hit*, *Scoop* *Twirl* *Hit*

"What the hell do you two think you are doing? You were ordered to pick up the balls. Racquets shouldn't even be in the hands of first years like you." yelled an irate second year wearing a green headband and blue track suit as he stalked over to the three girls.

"Now pick them up the way you are supposed to!" The boy kicked the ball basket over, scattering all the balls that had been collected. Sakuno quickly hid behind Rin fearing the boy would become more violent. Rin just looked impassively at the older boy.

"Hmm fascinating..." with a black notebook in hand, Umi scribbled something down. This caused most of the older tennis members to back away except for the angry second year. The other upperclassmen had figured out that Umi had an eerie family resemblance to a certain Regular. Rin and Sakuno were more confused about the color of the notebook she had. This one was black instead of the blue or red ones she had earlier. Before the second year could say anything else, a deep voice cut in.

"Arai, 15 laps." Everyone turned to see Tezuka and the other Regulars looking at the scene.

"But Buchou, they weren't picking up the balls like they were supposed to. They were trying to show up their sempai!" Arai tried to plead his case.

"30 laps." was Tezuka's response. Arai saw that his arguments were futile and started to run the laps. Tezuka seemed to ask something to a tall regular with spiky black hair and square glasses. The boy looked up from his green notebook before adjusting his glasses and responded back.

"Echizen and Inui Umi, 10 laps as well. See me after you are done. Everyone go back to your assignments." The regulars then went onto Court A to continue practice.

Umi and Rin just looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders together. They put their racquets away into their tennis bags before starting off on their run. At first the two were keeping together, but by Lap 4 Umi started to lag behind. Rin hadn't noticed and continued to run until she overlapped Umi by Lap 6. Rin decided to keep in pace with Umi until her own 10 laps were completed. Umi finished 10 minutes later panting.

"Gomen, Rin-chan. A dancer is built for grace, not endurance." was all Umi could gasp out. Rin was rather disappointed that Umi couldn't keep up. The run wasn't very hard for her.

_**"I guess she is more of a dancer than a tennis player."**_Rin decided she should probably help Sakuno and Umi try to become better tennis players if she wanted to remain their friends. She didn't come to Japan to have non-tennis player friends again.

"Come on Librarian-chan." as Rin dragged the tired Umi to the drinking fountain. Umi decided not to comment on the Librarian-chan nickname. It wasn't the worst name she had been ever been called. Also she could see how Rin's mind would come to such a conclusion. Once Umi quenched her thirst, they made their way over to Tezuka. He was talking to Fuji while observing the Regulars practice.

"Saa... The two of you are obviously above the other freshmen in skill." Fuji opened her eyes. Mesmerizing blue eyes seemed to examine the two girls. Both started to fidget under her gaze. Fuji was secretly glad more of her freshmen girls were better at tennis than the boys. Oh the fun she was going to have molding them into the future buchou and fuku-buchou. Chaos was sure to rain down upon Seigaku in the future. Noticing that the girls were rather uncomfortable under her stare, Fuji closed her eyes again.

"What Fuji-chan said was true, but you are part of the tennis club and need to work as a team. Showing off skills like that just demoralizes the rest of the members or the more... enthusiastic try to copy your moves." Tezuka continued where Fuji had left off.

To prove the point, Horio appeared to be trying to do Umi's first ball pick up technique. Unfortunately, Horio hit the ball too hard, which made it fly off causing a chain reaction of events. The ball hit another freshman in the head, as he carried a full ball basket off the court. Surprised by the ball, the freshman dropped the basket, spilling all the balls onto the court. A couple of upperclassmen practicing sprinting drills tripped on the balls. The group could only watch as more people got hit by tennis balls or tripped.

"I think you can understand why I would prefer that you do those moves outside of the club practices or show your fellow freshmen how to do them correctly as not to repeat this." Tezuka pointed behind him to the scene of club members scrambling everywhere or helping others up. The two girls nodded quickly. Deciding that they had enough, Fuji and Tezuka went with Ryuzaki-sensei to a classroom in order to discuss the inter-ranking match ups.

But before they left...

"Minna, 5 laps now!"

Umi had finished last, since she had already run 10 laps. She waved Sakuno and Rin to go on ahead. Rin decided to run with Umi for fear she may collapse. Practice had ended by the time Umi had finished the laps and returned from the drinking fountain. Most of the other players were changing in the locker rooms. Sakuno was sitting on one of the benches waiting for them. She looked rather frantic.

"Oh. Thank goodness you guys are done. I went to go get our bags when practice ended, but I couldn't find them." Sakuno had taken the buns out and were tugging on her braids nervously.

"Lost something freshmen?" The girls turned to find Arai looking rather smug with Hayashi and Ikeda flanking him. "I should have known you're also the same freshman that played against Momoshiro. Your cocky attitude when picking up those balls gave it away. If you want to see your bags again, play a game against me."

"But she doesn't have her racquets. That's not fair. You... you bully," in a rare show of courage by Sakuno. It reflected how angry Sakuno was about the theft. Rin was actually slightly proud about how Sakuno wasn't trying to avoid the conflict.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Racquet Thief," Rin coolly responded. Inside Rin, was another story.

**_"Damn it. I thought I left this behind in America. I should have known there would be some people just like them here too. How many times have I gotten my stuff moved or stolen? I should have seen this coming. Now I got Sakuno-chan and Librarian-chan mixed up in it too."_** Rin berated herself in not noticing the signs earlier.

"You don't have to accept Rin-chan. Oni-chan should be coming out of the locker room soon and could help us." Umi stated. She looking rather angry, since her full attention was on Arai and not in a notebook.

"OOO. Going to go tell. Shows how weak you really are," Arai didn't know he was just fanning the flames. "Since I'm such a generous sempai, I'll give you a racquet." Arai threw an old wooden racquet at Rin's feet. Rin picked it up and checked the strings. It was a bit frayed and quite loose.

"Freshmen need to learn their place. A weak racquet, for a weak Chibi like you." The fire burning in Rin's eyes became an inferno.

"Mada mada dane."

"Why you little bitch!" Arai glared at Rin as she took her place across the court.

**"I'm going to put this little girl in her place."**

**_"He isn't even going to know what hit him."_**

AN: A lot more serious than my earlier chapters, neh? I tried to mix humor and serious stuff into this chapter. I hope you don't think I'm Arai bashing too much. I just wanted to show a parallel to the racquet theft and some of the things that happened to Rin in America. The moves I had Umi and Rin do are inspired by real moves. I saw them on the first Youtube video listed, when I typed in "how to pick up a tennis ball." I thought a competition like that would make for a more realistic reason why Arai would pick a fight. Hope you guys like my longest chapter so far. It's nearly double of what I normally do. V ^.^ R & R please.


	8. Chapter 7: Mice

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Just letting you guys know, I update my profile every time I complete a chapter. So if you want to know how far along I am, or any news on the story, please check my profile. I've been meeting my goal of once a month updates rather easily. *scratches head* I don't even know how that happened and I don't know how long it will last. However, I doubt anyone will complain about frequent updates. This chapter is being posted earlier than normal as thanks for the reviews I have received so far. I didn't think my story would be that popular. Don't worry I won't hold chapters hostage for reviews, but it is nice to know your opinions. Enjoy the early chapter.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"**_Thoughts in English"_**

Chapter 7: Mice

"Saa... _When the cat's away, the mice will play."_

"Did you say something Fuji-chan?" Oishi looked up from the list of boy names already compiled for the inter-ranking matches. Tezuka had asked that Oishi review the names listed so far. A list of girl names could be seen in front of Fuji. Only a small number of names were on the girl's list, versus the much longer boy's list.

"I said, you both will want to see this," Fuji motioned towards the window she was sitting next to.

Tezuka and Oishi got up from their desks to look down onto the tennis courts. Below them, Arai and his friends could be seen facing off against Rin and the other girls. An old wooden racquet was thrown to the ground between the two groups. Rin was observed to be the one to pick the racquet up and was examining it.

"Oh dear. Arai is messing with those freshmen girls again. We should stop this Tezuka. What happens if someone gets hurt? Especially since it looks like Echizen plans to use that old racquet." Oishi continued to fret over the different scenarios that could occur.

"I don't tolerate this kind of behavior. Have them run more laps." Tezuka began to turn back to his desk.

"Wait, Tezuka-kun." Fuji put her hand on Tezuka's shoulder to stop him, as she got up from her desk. "Technically practice is over, so they aren't doing anything to disrupt practice. Also I want to see how this plays out." Blue eyes stared into brown eyes. A silent discussion took place within the few seconds their eyes met.

"Besides, I'm sure Arai will be punished enough once they are done." A knowing smile graced Fuji's face. Tezuka just sighed and gave her a curt nod of assent, as the three of them waited to see what happened next.

**"Echizen, why don't you show Arai why girls shouldn't be underestimated."**

Down at the courts...

"Are you sure you want to do this Rin-chan? Obaasan is going to be mad," Sakuno was fidgeting with her braids again, as she watched Rin take a few practice swings. Rin was following the path of the swing with her eyes, analyzing the movement to determine how she would be able to play with the old racquet. Rin's arm didn't move with the same fluid motion that she had earlier in the practice with her own racquet. The worn frame and frayed strings of this racquet increased the air resistance in the swing, causing the motion to look slow and awkward.

_**"It will have to do."**_

"It will be fine." Rin looked across the court at Arai. He seemed rather confident that victory would be his, but so did all of her opponents that she faced in America. In fact, Rin was feeling a sense of deja vu. In her mind, Arai's image was overlapped with other players she had defeated before. All had the same arrogant look of confidence. They had thought they were facing a scared little girl who was about to be crushed. This just made Rin more determined to show him that underestimating her would be his downfall.

Ikeda had situated himself in the judging chair. Sakuno and Umi could only watch from the sidelines, as the two got ready to play.

"Arai to serve!"

"Wait... how come Arai gets the first service play? It hadn't been decided yet," Sakuno said out loud.

"Sakuno-chan, what makes you think they would even give Rin-chan the chance of having the first serve? It's already been shown that this match is being stacked heavily in favor of Arai." Umi was looking anxiously towards the locker rooms in hopes that her brother would come out soon.

Arai got into his service stance. The ball flew across the net towards Rin. She easily hit the ball, but an odd stretching sound could be heard when the ball made contact. The ball sailed right into the net, much to the girls' dismay. Arai smirked.

"15-0"

"Not so cocky now are you? Where are those tennis skills that you used against Momoshiro?" Arai was still smirking when he got ready to serve another ball. Rin's only reaction to his taunts was to adjust her grip on the racquet in preparation for the second serve.

**"Haha, this is too easy. This will show everyone that these girls aren't so great."**

The ball went over the net and bounced next to Rin. Her return made it past the net this time, but was too high. It instead hit the fence behind Arai. The same odd noise was heard when the ball was hit.

"30-0"

Some of the tennis members had finally emerged from the locker rooms by now. They started to congregate around the court to see what Arai and Rin were doing.

_**"I think I got the hang of this thing."**_ Rin checked the strings of the racquet again, while waiting for Arai's serve. Arai decided to wait for more people to come out of the locker rooms. He wanted everyone to see what he perceived to be Rin's soon to be defeat.

"Hey what's Arai doing with that freshman?"

"Should we stop them before we all get into trouble again?"

"Oy, Echizen is using that old racquet we found in the locker room." Horio pointed out to Kachiro and Katsuo.

"Why are they playing against each other?" asked Katsuo.

Sakuno was about to explain what had happened to the girls' bags, when Rin returned the next ball surprising everyone.

"…30-15"

"What just happened?" asked Kachiro.

"She spun her whole body to create a top spin for the ball in order to control her returns." Inui was seen standing next to his sister. He handed Umi a green notebook. The rest of the Regulars, minus the ones observing in the classroom above, had come out of the locker room.

"The data you want should be on pages 12-15." Inui turned back to watch the game with the rest of the Regulars, as Umi flipped to the mentioned pages. She quickly skimmed through the information.

"Arigato, Oni-chan. So if I interpreted your data correctly, then our bags should be…"

"Hai, there is 97% chance of them being there." Inui pushed his glasses up.

"Does that factor in…"

"It increased the likelihood by 2%"

"Hmm, fascinating. Sakuno-chan I'm going to go get our bags. I doubt Arai will tell us where they are once Rin-chan wins this match." Umi handed the notebook back to her brother.

"How do you know where they are?" Sakuno asked. Umi just smiled. Her glasses glinted in the light.

"Don't worry about it Sakuno-chan. Just stay here to cheer her on. I'll be back soon." Umi quickly ran off.

"Hey. Is anyone else just as disturbed as I am about Inui and his imouto just now?" Momoshiro asked the other Regulars. Before they could answer, another voice cut in.

"Did you say something Momoshiro?" Inui's glasses glinted the same way Umi's did earlier.

"Ano…I said Echizen-chan is sure to win…" Momoshiro looked for help from the other Regulars, but they tried to blend in with the rest of the crowd. They knew better than to get in Inui's way.

Back on the court…

"That was just a fluke. There's no way you can control the ball with a racquet like that." Arai sounded as if he was reassuring himself more than talking to Rin. He served again.

This time everyone saw Rin spin her entire body. This added more force on impact with the ball. The ball flew over the net and bounced in between Arai's legs. Arai was unable to return the ball, allowing Rin to score another point.

"30 all"

The same thing happened on the next two serves. Rin would rotate her body when she received the ball. The same odd noise could be heard each time the ball was hit. Eventually, it became Echizen's turn to serve. Everyone was completely silent by this time. It was abundantly clear by now, that Rin indeed had figured out how to control the ball using the worn out racquet.

"1-0, Echizen to serve"

Arai was starting to sweat more out of nervousness than actual strain at this point. He had just lost his service play and couldn't figure out how.

**"How can this be happening? She's only a freshman. If I lose, I'll be the one humiliated, instead of her. What the hell am I going to do?"** Arai furiously thought about how to get out of the situation he put himself in.

"How about we stop now? It's getting pretty late now." Arai tried to reason with Rin in hopes of stopping the match.

"Yadda."

Rin got into a familiar stance. She threw the ball up with her left hand. The rim of the racquet in her right hand smashed down onto the ball. The ball soared past the net and landed in front of Arai. It then bounced up towards Arai's face, causing him to fall backwards in surprise.

"Ahh... 15-0"

"Nya, that Ochibi-chan just performed a Twist Serve and received a service ace," a Regular with wavy, auburn hair and plaster on his right cheek stated in surprise.

"See I told you guys that Echizen-chan was good." Momoshiro pointed to Rin as she examined her racquet.

Arai remained sprawled on the ground; the damage of the Twist Serve was too much for his ego. The club members were already discussing how Rin must be really good to be able to do a Twist Serve with such an old racquet. Rin didn't notice any of this as she continued to look at the racquet.

**_"Ho… I put a bit too much into that serve."_** The racquet had hairline fractures in the section of the frame she had used to hit the ball. She didn't know if it would hold for another serve, but decided to do another Twist Serve anyways. **_"The jerk deserves it. Haven't been this annoyed since some player stole my favorite cap."_**

"That serve was for Sakuno-chan. So, are you going to sit there for the rest of the game?"

**"I'm glad Rin-chan thinks of me as a friend." **Sakuno was pleasantly surprised by the statement, but was still worried about the outcome of this match.

This motivated Arai to stand up, even though he knew he would not be able to return another Twist Serve. However, his remaining pride prevented him from running away from the match. Rin got into the same stance as before. The ball was thrown up and Rin smashed it with the frame of the racquet. The frame shattered due to the force of the serve, but it did not matter. The ball took a path towards Arai. It landed again in front of Arai and flew up towards his face. His instinct made him shield his face with his racquet, rather than trying to return the ball.

"30-0"

"That one was for Librarian-chan." Rin threw the destroyed racquet to the ground. She then readjusted her cap. Arai came up with a last ditch plan to end the match.

"Hey since you don't have a racquet anymore. You have to forfeit the match." Everyone watching began muttering about how that is technically correct, but was rather unfair considering the level of skill they had just witnessed.

"Here's your racquet Rin-chan. Gomen, I kept you waiting." Umi handed Rin a red racquet from Rin's bag. The three missing bags could be seen lying next to Sakuno on the sidelines. Arai started sweating even more seeing a good racquet in Rin's hand.

"Looks like we get to continue, Racquet Thief." A smirking Rin pointed her new racquet at Arai. This left Arai with a dilemma: continue the game and be utterly humiliated, or forfeit and save what dignity he had. He decided his foolishness had already gotten him into enough trouble already. Plus he did not know when Tezuka or Ryuzaki-sensei would show up. If they found out about what he did to initiate the game, he might be kicked off the team.

"I... forfeit." Arai raised his hand, after much internal debate. Rin didn't know if he was being serious or not. That is, until he walked over to the net and stuck his right hand out for Rin to shake.

"It seems you are pretty strong for a Chibi." Arai's ego apparently still had a little spark left. It took a moment for Rin to realize this was his way of apologizing for what he had said earlier to her about being weak. Deciding not to press her luck, Rin accepted Arai's handshake.

"Che, whatever." Rin left the court and put her racquet away after checking to make sure everything was still in her bag. The other club members quickly dispersed, now that all of the excitement had ended.

"Arigato, Librarian-chan for getting our bags." Rin was not even surprised that Umi figured out where the bags had been hidden. The three girls said their good byes and departed separately. Rin headed home, while Sakuno went to look for Ryuzaki-sensei. The Inui siblings simply nodded to each other and headed off to gather…information for the following day, leaving an empty tennis court.

In the distance, Horio's voice could be heard talking to Katsuo and Kachiro.

"I could have done the same thing with my two years of tennis experience. Just wait until they pick me for the inter-ranking matches to see the Great Horio in action."

Up in the classroom….

"See Tezuka-kun. Everything worked out. We got to see some of Echizen-chan's skills and Arai seems to have learned a lesson in humility. I don't think he will try to start another confrontation," as the trio watched Arai shake Rin's hand.

"I'm glad no one got hurt when that racquet broke. I need to look Echizen over tomorrow take make sure she's ok." Oishi was relieved the match had ended peacefully with no visible injuries.

"I'll see you both tomorrow. We can finalize the list and match ups at the next morning practice." Tezuka had quickly gathered his things while the two were still looking at the courts and walked out of the classroom. Oishi decided to also say farewell to Fuji and left the classroom to lock up the locker rooms. Now alone, Fuji looked down at the list in front of her. Written in a neat script, different from her own curvy handwriting, was Echizen Rin at the bottom of the list. Fuji just chuckled.

**"I knew you would see it my way Tezuka-kun."** She quickly added something else to the list, before filing it away in her bag. She left the deserted classroom thinking about how much fun (*cough* chaos) will occur this year because of last two names on the list.

AN: Again let me know if I got any tennis term incorrect. Please R & R. Thanks.


	9. Chapter 8: Viper's Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Start of the inter-ranking matches. Hurray. Dialogue and game play from Chapter 8-10. Enjoy the chapter.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 8: Viper's Nest

Rin was sitting in her bathtub again. This time she was thinking about her match with Arai.

"_**At least Racquet Thief was smart enough to learn his lesson. Most need to lose to me a few times before they learn."**_

She held her breath and sank under the water. Rin stayed there for a few seconds; just letting her mind wander before coming up for air again. With her mind cleared, she decided to keep a low profile in the club for now. It would not be good to get kicked off the team this early for causing trouble (although technically, she is never the one that initiates the trouble). She felt slightly comforted that her new friends did not runaway when things got tough. Her old friends would have made excuses and would have left Rin to face the problem alone.

*sigh* _**"Hopefully nothing else happens to cause anymore problems."**_

- Line Break -

"Hmm… fascinating."

"Eh, what is it Umi-chan?" Tomoka came up behind Umi as they looked at the notice board in front of the tennis courts. The inter-ranking matches had just been posted and the first rounds would start at afternoon practice. Other members were also looking at the board to find out if they had been chosen for the selection matches or who their opponent would be first. Some were looking rather confident about the outcome of the matches, while others were resigned to train harder for the next inter-ranking selection.

"It seems that Fuji-sempai put Rin-chan and I in the inter-ranking matches. It is unusual to have freshmen in the first inter-ranking matches of the season. There is a 100% chance that the reason she did that was to see what other people's reactions would be."

"Actually, there just weren't enough second and third year girls. I did it because I wanted sixteen players versus fourteen on the courts. It made it easier in dividing up the players by having two matches per a court. The first round winners of that court will play each other. The same thing happens to the losers of the first set of matches. Although I do love seeing people's reactions to surprises." Fuji had appeared behind the two, surprising them both. Umi quickly took out a red notebook, and scribbled some notes.

"Ah, that does make it simpler. But why are there so few girl upperclassmen on the team that you need to use freshmen?" Tomoka asked Fuji. Fuji had already started walking to Court A for warm ups. It seemed as if Fuji had not heard Tomoka's question. Tomoka turned to Umi in hopes of getting an answer, but Umi was too preoccupied with her notebook.

"**Saa… its best if that story stays buried in the past."**

- Line Break -

Rin had been assigned to play in Block C. Umi was going to be in Block D. Sakuno and Tomoka did not know which girl to go cheer for. Rin was rather indifferent about the situation, while Umi was busy looking through another notebook to give an answer. In the end, the two decided to watch Rin's matches. If Rin finished fast enough, the three would then try to see Umi's. Unfortunately, both of the girls' matches ended fairly quickly. Rin had won each of them easily. She had completely shut her opponents out with only basic tennis skills using her right hand. Umi had a bit more trouble. Her opponents were able to score the first two points, before Umi then proceeded to gain the needed seven points. Umi also appeared to be using basic tennis moves.

"Congratulations. You both are on the list for the second round of the ranking matches."

Sakuno and Tomoka had just come back from looking at the notice board.

"You guys are in the same blocks as before, but now you get to play against the boys. Also three girls from Block A made it into the second round, so they put Fuji-sempai into your block Umi-chan. The boys' names haven't been added yet, but it looks like it will be tough for both of you." Sakuno nervously looked at Umi.

"I'm sure Librarian-chan will do fine against Fuji-sempai. If not, she just needs to beat the boys in her block to get on the team." Rin was drinking a can of grape Ponta that she brought from home. She was reading a pro-tennis magazine. It featured a move called the Buggy Whip Shot. The four girls were currently sitting under a tree across from the tennis courts. Club members could be seen watching the boys finishing up their first round of ranking matches.

"It would be so cool if you both get on the Regulars. We'll get all the freshmen to root for you. Oh, I have to make the signs and come up with cheers," Tomoka was already dream up posters that she needed to make.

"That's easy enough for you to say Rin-chan. Also Tomoka-chan, you should wait to see if we make it on the team before you plan out posters." Umi was rifling through several notebooks in front of her. They were in an array of different colors, and multiples of the same color were scattered or piled next to Umi. More seemed to materialize from Umi's bag every time she finished with the one she was looking through. It looked like she was studying for an entrance exam rather than preparing for a tennis match.

"Ano… Umi-chan. Why do you have so many notebooks? Shouldn't you and Rin-chan be getting ready for the next round? You only have a day to prepare." All the other girls were becoming increasingly alarmed by Umi's growing pile of notebooks. Rin was actually afraid the teetering piles would fall soon.

"Oh, I am."

Umi didn't even bother to look up or answer Sakuno's other question. A pile of notebooks started to sway back and forth with the wind. After watching the stack defy gravity and stay upright, the other girls decided it was a good time to leave Umi with her notebooks and said their goodbyes.

- Line Break -

It was the morning of the next round of the inter-ranking matches. The first set of matches would not start until the afternoon. Rin was looking at the notice board to see who her opponents were going to be. She did not recognize the names, although her second opponent's name seemed familiar.

"Oh, it looks like you are in the same block as Umi-chan's aniki," Sakuno pointed to the second name under her opponent list.

"_**Huh, that's Librarian-chan's last name. I should really try to remember that."**_

"I don't think Oni-chan is the one you have to worry about. Your first opponent, Kaidou Kaoru, is quite fearsome." Umi motioned towards a scowling second year. The boy was wearing a Regulars uniform and an orange bandana tied over his head. He hissed at the Ichinen trio as he walked past them, scaring the first years enough for them to runaway.

"Yikes, are you sure you can handle him Rin-chan. He looks scary." Tomoka had stopped by to walk Sakuno to class. The others had realized, Sakuno should never be left alone or else she would end up completely lost. Kaidou seemed to have heard Tomoka's statement because he immediately turned to glare at the girls.

"Eep. I… I think he heard you Tomo-chan. You… you should apologize," Sakuno and Tomoka were using Rin and Umi as human shields from Kaidou's glare. Rin just smirked back at Kaidou, drawing his attention. He hissed and stalked off towards the locker rooms.

"_**Ho… this afternoon looks like it will be fun."**_

- Line Break -

"Hey the freshman that played against Arai is up against Kaidou next."

"Oh, we get to see how she does up against a Regular."

"Yeah. The other girl is already losing against Fuji-sempai, so she probably won't do well against Kawamura-sempai or Arai."

"Too bad. Let's go watch the other one playing against Kaidou."

Several members were gathering around Court C to watch the match against Rin and Kaidou. Many were already placing bets on how much Rin would lose against Kaidou. Rin was ignoring them, as she readjusted her cap. Her opponent was glaring at her from across the court. She could see Sakuno and Tomoka on the sidelines.

The three of them were able to watch only the first minutes of Umi's match, before Rin had to head back to Court C. From what they had seen, Umi was already struggling in her game. Rin could see the potential in Umi, and it appeared so did Fuji. Fuji was making Umi see her flaws while playing the match to teach her what to work on. It would have been good to watch to know what to help Umi train in later, but she had her own match to play.

"Best of one set match. Echizen service play!"

Rin started out with an easy serve to test out her opponent. A rally started between the two as they hit the ball back and forth. Kaidou hit the ball towards the back court. Rin returned the ball. The ball struck the top of the net and bounced up. Everyone watched as the ball dropped into Kaidou's side of the court.

"15-0"

Kaidou's hand shook a bit as his eyes hardened. The game continued with the two returning shots against each other.

"Echizen just hit at an excellent angle just now. She's got this point." Horio pointed out to the other freshmen around the court.

Kaidou swung his right arm upward as he hit the ball. The ball flew over the net at a diagonal. It landed next to the net on Rin's side of the court and bounced out of the court.

"What the heck was that!" Horio and the other freshmen started to worry about Rin's chances of winning.

"That's Kaidou's 'Snake'," Momoshiro stated.

"Momoshiro-sempai!" The freshmen turned to hear Momoshiro's explanation of Kaidou's move.

"Just as his body's weight shifts from the right foot to the left foot, he swings his racquet with an incredible strength. Hitting the ball this way causes it to spin extraordinarily fast. With his long arms, only Kaidou can hit a Snake Shot," Momoshiro stated as the group continued to watch the match.

"**This freshman is hitting low and deep, but that won't stop me."**

Kaidou performed another Snake Shot. Rin was able to return the ball. However, to the spectators it appeared as if she was only barely making it in time to be in a position to hit the ball. Rin returned another shot, but it landed out of the court.

"Out! Game point. 1 to 1!"

"It's hot today. Isn't it sempai?" Rin smirked at Kaidou, as she took off her cap to wipe the sweat from her brow. Kaidou just ignored her. The match continued.

"Oh it looks like Rin can return the balls. She might have chance to win!" Kachiro said to Katsuo.

"Echizen has fallen into Kaidou's trap." Momoshiro just shook his head in dismay.

"Trap! What do you mean trap, Momoshiro-sempai!" Tomoka had latched onto Momoshiro's arm as she tried to get an explanation out of him. Looking rather flustered by Tomoka's close contact, he continued.

"The Snake Shot is just bait for his trap. He uses it to cause his opponents to lose their stamina. That's his true strategy."

"Ah… He's right. Echizen is already sweating a lot," Katsuo pointed out to the group.

"**She should be near her limit."** Kaidou then noticed something. **"Why is that freshman hitting close to the line again? She seems to be hitting to the same place every time." **As the game progressed, Kaidou became more confused.

"**She should have lost most of her energy by now. Why are her returns becoming stronger?"**

"Hey, Kaidou-sempai! You seem to be sweating a lot. Maybe you should take off that jacket," Rin motioned towards Kaidou with her racquet. It was then that Kaidou realized what was happening.

"**Her returns aren't becoming stronger. It's me."**

Other people were also noticing how Kaidou was the one starting to struggle with returning the balls. It was Inui who offered a reason for why Kaidou was tiring.

"He has been reaching down to hit the balls aimed at his feet. As a result, he has to bend low to return the shots. This uses up 2-3 times more of his stamina." Inui was writing something down.

"I would estimate it is closer to 3-3.5 times more of his stamina, Oni-chan." Umi had finished her match with Fuji and wanted to see the rest of Rin's match.

"How did you do?" Inui was still jotting down notes. The other freshmen were just as curious about Umi's match.

"It was fascinating. Fuji-sempai won, 6-1. I have some great ideas on moves and training I need to work on. I surprised her, once I showed her my tennis style in the fourth service play. I was able to win that one." Umi took out a notebook and was writing notes as well. With the two of them standing next to each other, writing notes, the freshmen could easily see that the two were related.

"Rin has a chance of winning then." The freshman started to cheer more for Rin.

"**Damn. I'm pretty tired, but so is she. I can win this as long as I stay focused."**

Rin smirked at Kaidou. This made him wary about what she planned to do next.

"Kaidou-sempai. Your Snake Shot is a variant of the 'Buggy Whip Shot', neh?"

Kaidou looked in horror as he saw Rin had mirrored his stance for the Snake Shot. Before he could fully grasp what was happening, Rin executed a textbook Buggy Whip Shot (Snake Shot) with her left hand. Club members were shocked again by Rin's tennis skills.

"The Snake Shot!"

"That first year performed a Snake Shot!"

"Hey, Kaidou-sempai. That shot is pretty difficult. I just saw it described in a magazine. After seeing you perform it, I wanted to give it a try. Too bad I can't reach very far, so the effect isn't as good." Rin was rather nonchalant about returning another player's shot with their signature technique.

"**Don't tell me she figured out how to successfully do a Snake Shot just by watching me."**

This seemed to be the breaking point in the match. Kaidou did not have the mental or physical strength to continue after that. He still fought against Rin for her win, but it did not have the same drive as in the beginning of the game.

"Game set! Match won by Echizen Rin, 6-4!"

Sakuno and Tomoka grabbed each others hands and started to jump up and down. The Ichinen trio started chanting about how Rin won. It was then that they noticed Kaidou was hitting himself with his racquet in frustration. They were surprised and frightened by the display of violence. Kaidou immediately left the court before Rin could shake his hand. Everyone was busy congratulating Rin to notice Kaidou's departure.

"You won Rin-chan! You only need to win one more match to make it as a Regular," Tomoka hugged Rin. Sakuno was pulled into the hug as well.

"How did Librarian-chan do?" Rin knew in her mind what had happened, but wanted to know for sure.

"Umi-chan lost, 6-1. She stopped by to watch the end of your match and told me to congratulate you. She said she had something to do and left." Sakuno was looking around to see if Umi was nearby or talking to her brother. The trio decided she must have wanted to be alone after her loss and left too.

- Line Break -

Kaidou was hunched down on a bench, far away from the courts. He was still beating himself over his lose, both figuratively and literally. His right knee was bleeding from the impact with his racquet. He still could not figure out how he had losed to a freshman. A shadow loomed over him causing him to look up.

Umi was looking down on Kaidou, while she held out an ice pack and bandages to him. He looked quizzically at the items and then at Umi. She sighed, before taking his hand and placing the ice pack into it. Removing a clean towel from her bag, she began to clean the blood from Kaidou's knee.

"What are you doing?" He shied away from her touch. It was mostly due to surprise that she was helping him. Most girls were afraid of his harsh demeanor and avoided him. He could not remember the last time a girl had approached him.

"Making sure Oni-chan's game against you will be a fair match. He wouldn't be very happy if he won just because you were being stupid. Hurting yourself isn't a good training method if you want to become a Regular." Umi placed the bandages on his knee before he could stop her. Umi continued to speak after seeing Kaidou remained silent.

"So you were beaten. You still have a chance if you beat Oni-chan and the other girl in your block. I lost to Fuji-sempai. You don't see me turning into a masochist."

"Heh, so you're Inui-sempai's little sister. Well you were supposed to lose against Fuji-sempai. She's a Regular! Like how that other freshman was supposed to lose to me! I wasn't supposed to lose against a freshman!" He was slightly relieved that the girl was not going to give a confession. He would not know what to do in that type of situation or what Inui would do if he found out. However, he was starting to become angry with the girl for bringing up his lose and lecturing him about it.

"Just because I'm a first year, doesn't mean I didn't have a chance at beating her. She won because she was a stronger player. It wasn't because she's older than me. I will learn from my match and work harder to become a stronger player than her. It shouldn't matter that you lost to a freshman. All you should be concerned about is how to become a better player. You underestimated Rin-chan because of her age. Are you going to underestimate your other opponents too? Are you going to just blow off this match as a fluke and not learn from it? If so, then you don't deserve to be a Regular." Umi roughly grabbed Kaidou's hand that was holding the ice pack and placed it over the injury.

"Keep it iced for fifteen minutes. Don't do your normal stamina training today or you may cause a more serious injury." Umi then left Kaidou to think about what she said. Kaidou huffed in annoyance, but decided not to chase after her to argue more. He could see she had a point in her lecture. He looked down at the ice pack and towel that she had left. Umi's name was stitched into the towel.

"**Che. I'll show you, Inui Umi. Kaidou Kaoru deserves to be a Regular."**

AN: I always thought that if I was a girl in POT I would be a Kaidou fangirl. *smirks* I have plans for this, but it won't be an official pairing. Like I said in my profile, only third years will actually have girl/boyfriends per se. Rin and the other girls may go on a date or two. Depends on how I feel. Hope you guys liked this one. Let me know what you think or if I confused anyone. Thanks.


	10. Chapter 9: Intro to Data Tennis

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Slight Horio bashing, but then again I think even Konomi does it too sometimes. Some of the dialogue explaining the Half Split Step and tennis action comes from manga chapters 12-16.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"**_Thoughts in English"_**

Chapter 9: Intro to Data Tennis

The freshmen were busy sweeping the courts to prepare for the next set of matches later in the day. Many still could not believe that Rin had been able to beat a Regular. A few were trying to give encouraging words to Umi after her lose to Fuji. However, someone just didn't know how to keep his mouth shut.

"Hey Umi-san! Echizen is going up against your aniki next. Why don't you tell her some of his tricks to help her out?" Horio yelled out to the girls sweeping in a neighboring court.

Umi was currently studying her notes in her left hand, while holding the broom in her right hand. She had been dragging the broom across the court. When she reached the end of the court, she pivoted on her left heel in a 180-degree about-face. The broom would twirl around as she spun and she would then drag the broom across the court again. Horio's question had caused her to stop and look up from her notebook.

"Oni-chan hasn't told my opponents my tennis style or moves, so it is only fair that I not divulge his style or moves as well." Umi pushed her glasses back up and continued her one handed sweeping.

"Can you believe that Echizen?" said Horio. "She's probably bitter about how she got beaten by Fuji-sempai, while you were able to defeat Kaidou-sempai. It's her fault for being a weaker player."

The only sign that showed Umi had heard Horio's words was Umi's tightened grip on her notebook, as she continued to sweep the floor. The other girls were close enough to be able to still see it though.

"Horio-san, that's not a very nice thing to say. Apologize," Sakuno scolded Horio, and walked over to Umi to make sure she was all right.

"Gomen, Umi-san. I didn't mean it like that. I meant comparatively to the Regulars..." Horio tried to reword what he said, to make it not sound as bad.

"Shut up, Horio. It doesn't matter who wins or loses. Let's just hurry up and finish sweeping." Rin coldly replied.

Rin was rather upset that Horio had said something so harsh to Umi, especially in front of her. It reminded her too much of the hurtful things that were said to her in America. Rin's statement had immediately silenced Horio. Umi ignored the girls' concerns as she worked faster. Umi finished sweeping first and quickly excused herself. The remaining freshmen continued to sweep in awkward silence.

- Line Break -

Afternoon practice ushered in the next set of matches. Umi was already starting her match against a tall, muscular third year, named Kawamaru Takashi, in Block D. It had looked like Umi would have a fair chance at winning against the meek player, until he picked up his racquet. Rin could still hear cries of "Burning!" being yelled from the court next door. Rin could only shake her head and think about the bad luck Umi had in her block placement.

Rin was busy tying her shoes as she prepared for her match against Inui. Her opponent had just placed his notebook onto the bench with his other things. This made Rin start to wonder if the entire Inui family had an obsession with notebooks. He proceeded to check the strings of his racquet, as Rin finished tying her shoes.

"Looks like she's finally going to play Inui-sempai, a third year Regular," stated Kachiro as the other freshmen looked on.

"Is Inui-sempai really strong?" asked Katsuo.

"Yeah, he is. He's one of the top third year players and hasn't been cut from the Regulars for the past six months. Even for me, he is a tough opponent." Momoshiro was currently watching the proceedings with the freshmen.

"Hey Momo-chan. Are you watching the Ochibi's game?" Another Regular with wavy hair and plaster on his right cheek appeared behind Momoshiro.

"Ah, Kikumaru-sempai. Echizen-chan's game is about to start. I really wanted to watch it."

"Well too bad because you have a match with me right now." Kikumaru headed towards Court B.

"Urk." Momoshiro quickly ran after Kikumaru, leaving the freshmen to watch the game.

"Oh…. I can't believe Umi-chan's aniki is so tall." Tomoka said to Sakuno.

"It's like watching an adult play a kid." Horio pointed out to the group, as the game was about to start. The two players shook each other hands before they took their positions on the court.

"The best of one! Inui service play!"

Inui started with a high-speed serve. Rin immediately caught up to the ball and returned it. The ball was hit back and forth at a fast rate. After returning the ball, Inui rushed to the net. Rin saw an opening to Inui's left, towards the backcourt, as he ran towards the net. She immediately aimed her hit to send the ball to the opening. Inui seemed to sense Rin's intentions and intercepted the ball at the net, scoring the initial point.

"15-0"

"Ah. It looked almost like Inui-sempai knew where the ball was going to go," said Sakuno.

"It's probably just a coincidence." Horio was quick to point out.

Play began again with Inui delivering another high-speed serve. The two began to rally. Rin aimed at another opening; however, Inui intercepted the ball again to Rin's surprise and annoyance.

"30-0"

"That wasn't a coincidence. Inui-sempai ran back to a defensive position the moment Echizen hit the ball. He seems to know what his opponent is going to do and counters." Kachiro pointed out to the other freshmen. They continued to observe Inui.

Rin was also starting to notice Inui's ability to counter her moves. Both of them were close to the net. Inui sent a shot over the net. Her proximity to the net made most of the spectators think that she would perform either a lob or straight shot. Instead, she executed a cross shot that sent the ball diagonally across the court to test out something.

"**The probability of you making a cross shot is 75%."**

Inui was already in position to return the shot, surprising everyone. Not to be outdone, Rin chased after the ball and was able to hit it. However, Inui did not move from his position. The ball struck the net, allowing Inui to score another point.

**"Just as I expected."**

"Wah, Rin is in trouble!" Tomoka exclaimed.

"1-0. Inui leads!"

"Inui-sempai is so much stronger than Kaidou-sempai," Horio stated.

"Of course," a female voice cut in.

"Fuji-sempai," the freshmen chorused together.

"Inui has won 3 out of 3 matches against Kaidou." Fuji was casually standing behind the freshmen in her female Regulars uniform.

This was the first time the freshmen had seen her in the female version of the uniform. She had previously been wearing a variation of the male uniform, but with shorter shorts. Ryuzaki-sensei was not as strict as other tennis coaches in terms of dress code for the girl tennis players. Plus she did not think she would be able to enforce a dress code on Fuji anyways, especially if Fuji ever decided not to follow the rules. The top of the female uniform was the same as the male uniform only more form fitting. Today, she was wearing a blue tennis skirt ending mid-thigh with navy blue bicycle shorts underneath instead of her usual white shorts.

"Wow, is that what the female Regular's outfit looks like?" Tomoka asked Fuji.

"Hm... oh, yes. Tezuka-kun felt it would be good for the freshmen girls to see different appropriate tennis outfits. A few of the girls have been sent home recently for wearing... inappropriate outfits for tennis. He thought I could set a good example of what to wear. Personally, I just think Tezuka-kun just wanted to see me in a skirt." Fuji joked to the freshmen. The freshmen just sweat dropped, unsure if she was just teasing about Tezuka or if her statement was true.

Back on Court C...

"I've watched all your matches so far, including your match with Kaidou and Arai." Inui was speaking to Rin as she was preparing to serve. "12 straight shots, 5 cross shots, and 3 lobs. Just right now, the probability of you returning my hit with a cross shot was 25%. But because of my height, you would not lob the ball. Nor would you take the straight shot to your right because of you're cockiness. You would want to hit the more difficult shot to make me look bad. This increased the probability of you performing a cross shot to 75%."

"Did Librarian-chan get her habit of quoting percentages from you, or is that just an Inui family quirk?" Rin asked blandly.

**_"What an annoying style of tennis. I hope Librarian-chan doesn't use it too, or else I don't think I want to play a match against her."_**

"Ah. Imouto always did like to emulate my actions when we were little. Okaasan thought it was cute and didn't discourage the practice. It is now as much a part of her personality as it is mine." Inui commented.

"Huh," as if she had found the comment interesting. Rin served the ball. Instead of crossing over the net, the ball hit the net. This puzzled everyone including Inui.

"Did you expect that Sempai?"

*Giggle* "It looks like Echizen-chan is quite stubborn." Fuji commented.

"You mean she did that on purpose?" Horio asked. Fuji only nodded.

Inui didn't reply to Rin's question. He was busy trying to figure out what Rin's intentions were. The two continued their game. Rin lobbed the ball well above Inui's head. Unfortunately for Rin, Inui stepped back and using his height, easily sent the lob back for another point.

"That lob was quite good. You had calculated my height and sent it well above my head. However, as long as I can anticipate your shots, there won't be a ball that I cannot reach. You will easily become a Regular with Imouto in the future, but not today." Inui was rather confident in his win.

Rin was still annoyed by Inui's tennis style, but was actually happy about the situation. Inui was taking her seriously enough to have researched her tennis style. He had even complimented her on her tennis, which is more than she can say about many of her previous opponents. This was the type of tennis she wanted to play. This was the reason why she moved to Japan, for a serious match between players. He did not care about her gender or age.

*Chuckle* "I'm glad I came to this school. I get to beat a variety of different tennis styles here." Rin smirked.

"I can't believe Echizen is laughing at a time like this!" Horio exclaimed.

Rin started to bounce on the balls of her feet, confusing many of the spectators.

"I just learned this move before I came to Japan. I wanted to save it for the Nationals," as Rin continued to hop up and down.

"It won't matter." Inui served the ball. He started to calculate which side Rin would return the ball to.

"Sheesh, you don't need to guess which side it will be because I'm going to hit it to the right." Rin then hit the ball to the right as she had stated.

**"Is she trying to confuse me? Because it won't work."**

Inui returned the ball. Rin again called out where her ball would go next.

"Now the left!"

The ball flew towards the left side at a quick rate. This practice continued, where Rin would state the direction she would send the ball, and then hit the ball in the direction stated. People started to notice that she appeared to be moving faster. Rin sent another shot towards the left. Inui did not intercept the ball, surprising everyone. The ball landed just outside the boundary.

"Out of bounds!"

"I thought you said you could return any ball, as long as you knew where it was going?" Rin said mockingly to Inui.

The spectators started to wonder if Inui had not moved because he knew it was going to be out, or if he had not moved because he had been unable to return the shot.

"Are you watching her feet?" Fuji asked the freshmen. Horio was the first to spot it.

"The Split Step."

"Split Step?" asked the others.

"I can't believe you guys? You need to know these things if you plan on being tennis players. When your opponent returns their shot, you hop with your body tilted forward and land on your toes. This will increase your reaction time by a half step." Horio explained.

"How does that work?" Katsuo asked.

"Well... ano..."

Luckily, Fuji decided to answer for Horio.

"She's faster due to her muscles expanding and contracting at a faster rate from the bouncing. This allows her to dash forward a half step faster and reach balls she would normally be unable to reach."

"Wow, what an amazing freshman," another voice was heard next to them. The group turned to see a young woman holding a camera with an older gentleman who was also watching the game.

"Eh, who are you guys?" Horio asked.

"Oh, I'm Inoue Mamoru and this is Shiba Saori. We are with Monthly Pro Tennis Magazine," the older man explained to the group.

"Their magazine likes to send a reporter to come watch our inter-ranking matches sometimes. Hello again Inoue-san," Fuji bowed her head in acknowledgement towards Inoue.

"Ohayo, Fuji-san. Shiba and I were able to watch your match against that other freshman earlier. It was actually quite interesting, especially when she started to…."

"Yes, Umi-chan will make a fine addition to our club." Fuji interrupted Inoue before he could say anymore about Umi's tennis style.

He seemed to realize what Fuji was trying to do and turned his attention back to Rin's game, leaving the other freshman confused.

"Have you noticed Fuji-san? It's more than just the split step," Inoue pointed out to the group. They stared at Rin's feet more as she moved across the court. Rin could be seen bouncing on one foot and then switching to the other foot when she landed.

"Hm… fascinating." Umi startled everyone by her sudden appearance.

"Wah! Stop doing that Umi-san/chan," Horio and Tomoka cried out in unison.

"Ah, gomen Tomoka-chan." Umi did not apologize to Horio, since she was still a little upset over what he had said earlier in the day. The others did not understand what Umi's comment had meant.

"So how did you do against Taka-san?" Fuji stated.

"I need to work on my moves against power players and my stamina. It was a 6-3 lose." Umi was writing things down in a red notebook.

"Don't feel too bad about it Umi-chan. Taka-san gives a lot of people trouble with his 'Burning' power shots." Fuji consoled Umi. "Just use your next match as a way of gaining more experience on the courts." Umi only made a noise of confirmation that she heard Fuji. She then looked up from her notebook towards the match.

"If you look carefully, Rin-chan is only landing on one foot. A normal Split Step has the player land on both feet." Umi pointed out to the group.

"That means she is reaching the ball even faster than a normal Split Step." Fuji nodded in agreement to Umi's observations. Awed by this revelation, the others turned back to watch the game.

"We saw this at Rikkaidai too, didn't we Inoue-sempai?" Shiba asked quietly to the more experience journalist.

"Yes, Rikkaidai's second year ace, Kirihara Akaya."

Back on Court C…

**"There is a 90% chance that she will return it to the right."**

As he predicted, the shot was sent towards the right. Inui positioned himself for the shot, but was unable to reach it in time. Rin was indeed getting faster with her Half Split Step technique and reaching balls that she could not before with her regular steps.

"Inui-sempai is able to predict her moves, but can't react fast enough to return them." Katsuo pointed out to the rest.

"Hm… I can't believe this. To think you can hit predictable balls that are also unable to be returned." Inui started mumbling calculations under his breath.

"Hey, Inui-sempai! I've got another shot that you can predict the path of, but won't be able to return." Rin assumed a familiar stance to the surrounding freshmen, as she got ready to serve using her right hand. Inui could already figure out what serve she planned to do thanks to her match against Arai and prepared for the Twist Serve.

The ball bounced towards his face. Much like Arai, his instinct at experiencing the Twist Serve for the first time was to dodge. Rin scored an instant service ace.

**"That move, that stance, it's like Samurai Nanjiro." **Inoue was staring at Rin with more scrutiny, trying to look for more signs to confirm his theory.

**"Hm… that Twist Serve is amazingly strong for using her right hand when she is left handed. The speed and angle is much greater than when she was using the older racquet. She is far more skilled than I had initially calculated,"** as Inui started to furiously recalculate his equations using the new data.

"Using my right hand reduces the power of the serve. But I wanted to knock your glasses off. I want to know what color you and Librarian-chan's eyes have." Rin called out to Inui. Everyone else seemed to realize that they have never seen either of the Inui siblings' eyes, thanks to their thick glasses. Now people were curious and were looking at both of the Inui siblings for a reaction. Both of them did not seem to notice, as they were both calculating equations in their heads.

Rin served another Twist Serve. Inui took a step back in anticipation of the serve and readied himself to slice the ball in return. The ball made contact with his racquet, but Inui was unable to maintain his grip. The racquet dropped to the ground.

"You shouldn't rely on data to win. You need to strengthen your tennis skills first." Rin directed the statement to Inui. Inui just chuckled. The game continued, but everyone already knew how it would end.

"Game set! Won by Echizen, 7-5!"

"She defeated Inui."

"Unbelievable, a freshman beat two Regulars."

"Wait, this means Echizen is a Regular now." Kachiro pointed out. All the freshmen started to cheer.

"Yeah! Echizen you're a Regular now!"

"Represent us freshmen, Echizen!"

"I accept my defeat. You gave me some interesting data to work with." The two shook hands after the match ended. Inui turned to exit the court, while muttering about what the new data meant.

"Inui-sempai! I'm still a little annoyed by your tennis style, but it was a fun match. I don't think I want to play against you again." Rin told Inui before he left the court. Inui's glasses glinted in the sunlight.

"It will be interesting to see how you feel about Imouto's style then." Inui left the court to prepare for his game against Kaidou the next day.

All the freshmen gathered around Rin to congratulate her. Rin started putting away her things into her tennis bag.

"Hey Librarian-chan do you play the same way as your aniki?" Rin casually asked Umi.

"You will probably be able to see it tomorrow, since your match will last less than 20 minutes." Umi stated.

Rin just shrugged and figured that Umi was probably right. She decided to focus on the fact that she was now a Regular, and she could not be happier.

AN: Hehe I think I like startling the freshmen with Umi's sudden appearances too much. I'm not bothering to do Umi's earlier matches because I wanted to focus on Rin's matches against Kaidou and Inui. However, I'll be writing Umi's match against Arai for a bit of fun in the next chapter. I'm sure by now, most of you have figured out her tennis style. I've haven't exactly been subtle about it. Read and review please.


	11. Chapter 10: Umi's Style

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Thanks to all those who have said such kind things in their reviews. I'm glad that my readers are enjoying my writing, even though I've been noticing some minor mistakes in my earlier chapters. I've cleaned up some of the wording and grammar, but it is essentially the same. I spent quite a bit of time trying to do research for this chapter, so I hope you all like this chapter. It's all original this time.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"**_Thoughts in English"_**

Chapter 10: Umi's Style

It was the last day of the inter-ranking matches. The most anticipated games happening today were Fuji vs. Kawamura, and Kaidou vs. Inui matches. Rin's match was scheduled first on Court C; while Umi's was scheduled second on Court D. Rin quickly finished her match in less than twenty minutes, by winning all of her service plays with service aces in record time. Rin actually felt a little bad about completely decimating her opponent, but the other girl was rather understanding about the defeat of 6-0.

"As to be expected by Seigaku's newest Regular." Umi told Rin.

"Librarian-chan, shouldn't you be at Court D?" Rin asked as the group of freshmen watched the beginning of the game between Kaidou and Inui.

"There has been a slight delay in Fuji-sempai and Kawamura-sempai's match," Umi then began to explain what had happened on Court D.

- Flashback to Court D -

Fuji was checking the strings on her racquet, as Kawamura was tying his shoes on the bench. He quietly got up and started walking onto the court, before Fuji reminded him about something.

"Saa… Taka-san. You forgot your racquet," Fuji pointed her own racquet towards the bench where Kawamura had left his racquet.

"Hehe, ano… arigato Fuji-chan." Kawamura stated softly while scratching the back of his head. When he picked up his racquet, his demeanor completely changed.

"_I'm burning up! Come on, Baby!"_ Kawamura cried out as he swung his racquet violently back and forth and motioned towards Fuji with his left hand.

*Giggle* "I can see that you are Taka-san."

The game began with the same amount of enthusiasm. Kawamura was sending powerful shots towards Fuji, while Fuji easily countered his shots. This continued with both scoring points against each other. Finally, Kawamura hit the ball even harder than before. Unaware of the change in strength, Fuji readied herself to return the ball. The ball was traveling with so much power, that Fuji lost the grip of her racquet. The racquet soared out of her hand and hit the poor third year judging the match, in the head, knocking him out of the judging chair.

It took a short amount of time for Ryuzaki-sensei to appear on the court. She immediately ordered Kawamura to grab the dazed third year and take him to the Nurse's office. She then yelled for Fuji to come with her to the Nurse's office to hear what had happened.

- End Flashback -

"So right now Ryuzaki-sensei is currently checking to make sure Nishi-sempai (1) hasn't received a concussion. Afterwards, she will be lecturing Kawamura-sempai about how he shouldn't be using such powerful shots against his own club members, while Fuji-sempai tries to defend him. It will take approximately another 45 minutes before their match will start again. Including the 15 minutes it will take Ryuzaki-sensei to find someone willing to take Nishi-sempai's place." Umi explained to the now frightened group of freshmen.

"Kawamura-sempai's shot knocked out a third year?" Horio asked in horror.

"Technically, he was still conscious when they left to the Nurse's office." Umi pointed out. The freshmen just sweat dropped. "Because of the delay, I decided to watch Oni-chan's match."

It was only then that the others realized they missed most of the game occurring on Court C. They immediately paid attention to the match in front of them. It looked like a close game. Inui was using his data tennis to anticipate Kaidou's shots. Kaidou became even more determined and exceeded Inui's initial calculations. In the end, Kaidou won the match 7-5 after pulling off an improved Snake Shot. The angle of the Snake Shot's bounce was sharper than Inui had expected, and he had missed the return.

"Their skills were above the data I had recorded." Inui stated as he walked out of the court.

"**I'll have to recalculate and train more. But at least this club is becoming stronger."**

"Congratulations Kaidou-sempai," Umi said to Kaidou, as she walked towards her brother. He merely hissed in acknowledgement and walked away.

"Too bad, Inui-sempai. It looked like you and Kaidou-sempai were pretty evenly matched." Rin consoled Inui.

"It seems both of us are going to be training harder, neh Oni-chan?" Umi said as she tossed a towel towards him.

"Shouldn't you be playing your match by now?" Inui asked as he wiped the sweat from the back of his neck. Umi quickly gave a brief summary of what had happened on Court D.

"Ie… data." Inui quickly wrote down the new information about Kawamura's strength. It helped that Umi was able to give estimates about speed, power, and angle of trajectory. The other freshmen quickly became lost in the technical jargon that the Inui siblings were using.

"Ano… Umi-chan. It looks like they finished their game on Court D." Sakuno pointed out. Fuji and Kawamura could be seen shaking hands and exiting the court.

"You better hurry over there Umi-chan. We'll go cheer you on in a second." Tomoka pushed Umi towards Court D.

On Court D…

Arai was waiting for Umi when she arrived. He was already annoyed that he did not make it on to the Regulars again. He did not see why he had to bother playing this last match, but did not want to voice his opinion. Ryuzaki-sensei was already in a bad mood thanks to the incident earlier on Court D. Arai nearly had a nervous breakdown when he was told who Sakuno was related to. Bringing any attention to himself while Ryuzaki-sensei was agitated would probably end with him out of the club. He was lucky that Sakuno had not told her grandmother the reason behind Arai's match with Rin.

Now he was facing Inui's little sister. He had been paranoid for the last week because of his fear that Inui would punish him for taking his sister's bag, along with the other girls' bags. Fuji had implied to Arai during a conversation, that Inui had an overprotective brother complex towards Umi. Of course, Arai did not know that Fuji was confusing Inui for Lee Komui from D-Gray Man. Fuji decided not to say anything about the mistake when she realized it.

"One set match. Inui service play!"

Umi sent a weak serve towards Arai. He easily returned the ball back across the court. The two began to hit the ball back and forth. Most of the club had gathered around their court as they continued to play, since they were the last match of the day. The new Regulars were standing next to Inui, who was standing close to Rin and company. He already knew they would have questions about Umi's style and decided to stay close during the game. The spectators could see that Umi was sending a variety of hits towards Arai. Umi did not appear to be putting much effort in scoring points and had missed one or two shots.

"1-0, Arai leads"

"She's been leaving a lot of openings. Does she normally play singles?" Rin had noticed that Umi had almost let a few shots past her defenses, as if she was expecting someone else to get them. If Umi had been playing doubles, the shots would normally be received by a doubles partner located behind her. Although, it did look like Umi had made fewer mistakes near the end of the first service play.

"Hai. I had taught Imouto, by playing doubles on the streets courts together. She is still getting used to just being a singles player." Inui said to Rin. Rin only nodded, as she paid attention to the game again.

Arai was feeling more confident about the way the game was going, but remembered what happened the last time he played against a freshman. He looked across the court to his opponent and was surprised at what he saw. Umi had her left arm arched above her head. Her right arm was held out to her side, with her racquet positioned with the frame parallel to the ground. Her left leg was positioned behind her right, with her right foot pointing down to the ground. Everyone was confused about Umi's stance.

"Ano... why is Umi-chan standing like that?" Sakuno asked Inui.

"Yeah, if I didn't know any better it would look like she was taking the stage for a dance performance." Tomoka said out loud.

"That's because she is." Inui told the group.

"Saa... Umi's play style is rather beautiful to watch, neh Inui?" asked Fuji. Inui just nodded in agreement.

"Eh?" Katsuo and Kachiro chimed together, puzzled by Fuji's statement.

"You'll see." Fuji smiled and turned back to the game.

Arai decided that Umi was just trying to throw him off with her weird stance and served a fast shot towards Umi. Umi took two leaps across the court and arrived in time to return the ball faster than anticipated. Arai was so startled by Umi's speed and the way she had gotten into position, he did not even move to return the ball. A majority of the club members watching were just as floored by Umi's sudden speed and method.

"... 15-0?"

"What kind of move was that?" Horio shouted out what many were thinking. Not a lot of people had watched Umi's previous games, since the more exciting matches of Tezuka vs. Oishi, and Kikumaru vs. Momoshiro had been happening at the same time. Thus, many did not know what to make of Umi's play style.

"She used two grand jetes (2) to transverse the distance between her and the ball." Inui explained to the group.

"Grand jete?" Someone in the crowd said out loud.

"It is a ballet technique where one does a horizontal jump in the air starting with one foot and landing on the other. It differs from a jete, or normal jump, in that while in mid-air, the dancer's legs are in the splits to give an illusion of gliding through the air."

"A ballet technique?" Sakuno was still confused.

"Hai, Imouto has been studying ballet and other dance styles since she was six. Okaasan thought it would make her more graceful because she was a rather clumsy child before then. In fact, the dance club wanted her to be part of their competition team. However, she wanted to play tennis with me instead." Inui pushed his glasses up.

"Wow, I didn't know she was that good at dance. She must be really devoted to you, Inui-sempai, to turn down being on the dance team." Tomoka said in surprise.

"It's rather sweet." Sakuno commented. Many of the boys were snickering or thinking Umi had a brother complex. Inui coughed out of embarrassment and turned back to the game.

Arai had recovered from his initial surprise and was readying his next serve. Umi resumed the same stance that she took before. This time Umi took normal jetes to get to the ball. Expecting Umi's unique method of getting across the court, Arai was prepared for the ball and was able to return it this time. The two began a rally with Umi continuing to use ballet steps to go after the ball. Arai was unable to match the speed Umi was displaying and Umi won the second service play. It appeared Umi was starting to not have as much trouble being a singles player as the game progressed.

"1 all. Inui service play!"

Umi's serve this time was faster than her first service play as well. Arai had been expecting the same weak serves as the first service play and missed the first serve.

"15-0"

Her next serve was just as fast. After she served, she immediately rushed to the net. The game continued with Arai trying to keep up with Umi, as she sped across the court. Umi was steadily winning the service plays. This was causing Arai to start panicking. He did not want to lose to another freshman. Arai hit a fast return that Umi had previously been unable to reach even with her increased speed. Umi was already in position for her return, after Arai made contact with the ball. Her left leg was behind her right leg in Fourth Position (3). Her right leg was quickly lifted forward and snapped into a bend behind her left leg causing Umi to spin. As she spun, her racquet moved with even greater force than her normal swing. It made contact with the ball as a backhanded stroke that caused the ball to be sent flying back to Arai at an amazing speed. Arai was so stunned by Umi's move that he just let it fly past him as he stared at Umi.

"Ano...4-1, Inui in the lead!"

"Oh, she didn't do that one during my game with her." Fuji commented.

"Her Fouette en Tournant Return." Inui stated.

"Her what?" asked Tomoka.

"She uses a fouette en tournant (4) to increase the power of her backhand to send the ball back with incredible speed. A fouette en tournant is where the dancer stands momentarily supported by one leg, with the supporting knee bent as the other 'working' leg is whipped around to the side, creating the impetus to spin one turn. The working leg is then pulled in to touch the supporting knee as the dancer rises up en pointe (5) on the supporting foot. The ability to consecutively perform over 32 of these turns is considered an amazing achievement for a ballerina, emphasizing her strength, stamina, and technique. It is a very difficult step to do and many ballerinas can only do 32 on one side, normally the right. Umi is only able to do 2 consecutive turns at the moment." Inui explained.

"She knew where the ball was going to be in order to do that move." Rin had been watching Umi more carefully ever since she started her dance style.

"Eh, that would mean she can anticipate what move Arai was going to do next." Horio said.

"Isn't that Inui-sempai's style of tennis?" asked Katsuo.

*Chuckle* "I see you guys have finally figured out Imouto's real style of tennis. Umi probably didn't have enough data to pull off that return during her matches with Fuji-chan and Taka-san." Inui's glasses glinted in the sunlight.

"You mean she's really playing data tennis!" the Ichinen trio shouted together. Everyone snapped their heads to the trio, including the players on the court. They immediately turned red when they noticed everyone looking at them.

**"You mean she's been playing Inui-sempai's tennis style! I'm so screwed."**

*sigh* "Well now that everyone knows. Yes, I play data tennis. The dance tennis is to help throw my opponent off. The player pays more attention to my dance moves, while I gather their data. I continue to use the dance tennis as a distraction, as I use the new data to return every shot the player makes. The player always assumes that my dance steps are what they are losing to. Only really perceptive players realize that I'm able to anticipate their shots." Umi explained. "Unfortunately, the draw back for using this combined tennis style is that it uses up more of my energy than if I just ran normally."

A murmur went through the crowd over how deceptive Umi's play style was. If Rin had not pointed out Umi's ability to read her opponent's shots, then they never would have guessed that Umi's real style was data tennis. The game continued, but Umi stopped doing dance moves to conserve energy. It did not matter anymore, since the club now knew her real play style. Arai was already mentally defeated after hearing about Umi's tennis style. He could never beat the older Inui. There was no way he would be able to beat the younger Inui after her trick with the dance tennis. Plus she had all of his data. Arai did not have a secret move like Rin that he could use to turn the game in his favor. The game quickly ended after Umi revealed her secret.

"Game match. 6-1. Winner, Inui!"

"Congratulations Umi-chan!" Tomoka cried out.

"Hai, Fuji-sempai was right. Your play style is wonderful to watch," said Sakuno.

"You are one scary tennis player. Using one style to mask another." Horio told Umi in hopes of getting back on her good side. Who knew what data she had gathered already on him?

"Arigato, minna-san." Umi said to the group. She turned towards her brother and the other Regulars for their reactions.

"I'll have a training schedule set up by dinner time, Imouto." Inui was busy scribbling in his notebook.

"Hai, arigato Oni-chan."

"Saa.. you always put on a great show Umi-chan. I can't wait to see what the other schools' reactions will be when you become a Regular someday." Fuji smiled. Kikumaru could be seen talking to Oishi animatedly about the dance steps Umi used. The third year Regulars walked off to discuss the results of the inter-ranking matches, leaving Kaidou, Momoshiro, and the freshmen behind.

"Fsshhh, not bad," Kaidou hissed, as he ran off to start his after-practice run.

"Well that's the end of the inter-ranking matches. How about we celebrate Echizen-chan? I'll take you out to burgers." Momoshiro asked Rin.

"Sempai pays." Rin said to Momoshiro.

"Hai, hai. Anyone else want to come?" Momoshiro asked the remaining group of freshmen.

"I wouldn't want to intrude on your date." Umi said while putting the rest of her stuff away.

"What? It isn't a date. I only asked if anyone wanted to go celebrate the end of the inter-ranking matches!" Momoshiro sputtered out.

"One, you specifically asked Rin-chan to go celebrate. And two, you said you would pay. A guy asking a girl to a meal and is paying for the meal normally constitutes a date, Momoshiro-sempai." Umi ticked off each of the points on her hand.

"What! Help me out you guys, Echizen-chan?" Momoshiro pleaded to the Ichinen trio and Rin. Before Horio could say anything, Tomoka elbowed him in the gut. Effectively silencing him from saying anything. The other two were too afraid to voice their opinion after seeing Tomoka's use of violence.

"Yeah that's right Momoshiro-sempai." Tomoka chimed in her agreement. "We don't want to intrude on your ~date~."

Rin just shrugged her shoulders towards Momoshiro. She did not really care what it was called as long as she got free food.

Tomoka immediately linked her arms with Horio and Katsuo and dragged them away. The rest of the freshmen quickly followed, leaving Momoshiro in horror and Rin rather indifferent about the situation.

"What the hell just happened?" Momoshiro cried out.

Explanations

*1) Nishi Hideto is listed as the club's treasurer.

*2) Grand Jete: A long horizontal jump, starting from one leg and landing on the other. Known as a split in the air. It is most often done forward and usually involves doing full leg splits in mid-air.

*3) Fourth Position: One foot is placed approximately twelve inches in front of the other with both feet pointing in opposite directions.

*4) Fouette en Tournant: A turn where the dancer stands momentarily on flat foot (opposite of en pointe) with the supporting knee (the knee of the leg you spin on) bent as the other "working" leg (the leg that moves and causes the spin) is whipped around to the side, creating the impetus to spin one turn. The working leg is then pulled in to touch the supporting knee as the dancer rises up en pointe on the supporting foot.

*5) En Pointe: Term for when ballet dancers are on their toes.

AN: So how many of you had guessed Umi's style correctly? I figured most would assume just data tennis, but more observant readers would have taken note of my references to her being a dancer. Hah, I came up with a player that does a combination of data tennis and dance tennis. I know a lot have done one or the other, never both. V ^.^ How's that for original?

Looking up the different ballet moves for this chapter reminded me of when I took ballet for two years as a kid. Of course, the most complicated move I could do was pirouettes that had me move across the dance floor. That childhood memory was the inspiration for me to write this story. I remember thinking that if you had Inui's data tennis ability; I could so mess with people by doing a return using a pirouette or run across the court using jetes. Everyone would think the style is dance tennis, but really it is disguised data tennis. This then got me thinking about Umi's character, since it would make sense that Inui's sister would know data tennis and could have taken ballet too. Of course none of these moves would ever work in real life, but hey this is fanfiction and I control the physics in this world.

Sorry for the long AN, but I wanted everyone to know how I felt about writing this chapter. Please let me know if you got confused by the different ballet moves. I tried to explain them as best as I could, but dance moves are just one of those things that are better seen than read.


	12. Chapter 11: Run, Inui Made Juice!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Special thanks to the following readers who left reviews for my last chapter: ShikiKira, DaPurpleDino, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, Sakura Ichigo Morihiko, xbamsod, and RenKun-Sensei. I didn't know if people would receive Umi's tennis style well, or if it was too much like other fanfics. Your reviews say otherwise. Thanks again. I'm introducing Inui juice earlier than in manga canon because I thought of a great scene for after Districts. I'm sure you all will love it as much I did when I thought of it a couple of weeks ago. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 11: Run, Inui Made Juice!

Momoshiro could only stare in disbelief at the scene in front of him. A pile of discarded burger wrappers was currently growing between him and Rin, as he watched her finish her fifth burger. The two had gone to a nearby burger shop to fulfill Momoshiro's earlier promise. Rin had immediately ordered eight burgers, a large set of fries, and a large grape Ponta. Momoshiro had thought she had ordered for him as well, until she turned around to ask what he wanted. He was only able to order a small soda, thanks to Rin's large order using up all of his money. Momoshiro finally regained his senses after witnessing Rin unwrap her sixth burger.

"Oy, Echizen. There is no way this is a date with the way you eat. I feel sorry for any boyfriend you get in the future. He'll be broke by your second date."

"You offered to pay Sempai, so it's your own fault." Rin took a long sip of her drink.

"I thought I told you to call me Momo-chan or Momo-Sempai!"

"Sempai is easier to remember." Rin returned her attention to her food.

"Easier to remember! You remembered Mamushi and Inui's names just fine!" Momoshiro started ranting about how kids today did not have respect for their elders. Rin decided not to point out he was only a year older than her. He finally shut up, once Rin handed him a burger and some fries.

"Hey Sempai, when's our first tournament?"

Momoshiro decided to give up on getting her to call him anything else other than Sempai for now, and answered her question.

"We've got Districts in two weeks. So we need to train hard if we want to make it to Nationals this year."

Rin tuned Momoshiro out again, as she thought about her first official tournament in Japan. She could not wait to play against other strong players. Making it onto the Regulars team was just the first step to proving she was the best, no matter her age or gender. Also it got her closer to beating her father in a real match.

Momoshiro noticed she stopped paying attention to him, but his insight told him not to bother her. The two left the shop once they were done. Momoshiro walked Rin home, but still remained silent. This time, it was to keep him from accidentally agreeing to feed her again, rather than bothering her. His allowance just was not big enough to handle such a gluttonous kohai. When they arrived, Nanjiro had answered the door before Rin had gotten her key out.

"_Hey, Runt. Don't tell me you already got a boyfriend. You only started school last week."_

"_I'm not dating him. He's too much of an oaf, for me to date him._" Rin pointed her thumb at Momoshiro. Nanjiro sized up the confused Momoshiro, as he continued to stand next to Rin.

Poor Momoshiro did not know what was happening. He had determined that the man in front of him was either Rin's father or some other relative, but he was not sure what the two were saying. English was never his best subject. He was able to figure out that the man thought the two had been on a date, and that Rin had said something that did not sound too good. Suddenly, he had a great idea. Momoshiro pulled out his Japanese/English dictionary.

"_Off?"_ Momoshiro quickly flipped through the dictionary to figure out what Rin had called him.

"_I see what you mean. I don't think I need to worry about you with him. But remember that your Mom said not to take advantage of stupid people like him."_ Nanjiro walked back into the house. Rin said good night to Momoshiro, but he was too preoccupied with his search to notice.

"Ah, not _off._ You called me an _Oaf,_ which means a clumsy, stupid person." Momoshiro basked in the glory of figuring out what Rin had called him, until his mind caught up with what he just read out loud.

"Wait a second. I'm not a baka!" It was only then that Momoshiro realized both Echizens had closed the door already, and he was alone.

"…."

- Line Break -

The next practice brought a newfound excitement to the courts. Everyone knew that the District Tournaments were going to start soon, and were working extra hard.

*clap* "Minna, line up!" Ryuzaki-sensei called the club's attention. "As you all know, Districts are in less than two weeks. Just because we're the first seed in our district, doesn't mean we shouldn't train hard."

Tezuka then took over.

"Minna-san. Ryuzaki-sensei is correct. Non-Regulars will be working on Courts C & D. Regulars will be on Courts A & B. Remember yudan sezu ni ikou (1)."

"Wait, there is one more annoucement. I've gotten a couple people to help the training of both the Regulars and the other club members." Ryuzaki-sensei stated.

The two Inui siblings could be seen walking towards the group with boxes. They set them down in front of Ryuzaki-sensei. Everyone could hear the loud thuds that boxes had made.

"The elder Inui will be managing the Regulars' training, while the younger Inui will be helping the other club members' training under her aniki's supervision. I hope this won't be a problem for some of you." Ryuzaki-sensei look pointedly towards Arai and his friends. Seeing Ryuzaki-sensei's attention on him, Arai quickly shook his head no.

"Good. Everyone get to work."

On Courts A & B…

"For the boys, please put these 0.5 kg ankle and wrist weights on your arms and legs. Fuji-chan, Echizen, please put on the 0.5 kg ankle weights and the 0.2 kg wrist weights instead. I'm giving the girls lighter weights because their style of tennis is more about speed than power. Also, giving them the same weights for their arms would be detrimental to their arms because of the difference between male and female bone density." Inui explained to prevent complaints about the inequality of the weights.

The Regulars put the weights on without complaint. A few like Momoshiro, Rin, and Kikumaru could be seen jumping around to test out the feel of the new weights.

"These don't feel too heavy, Inui-sempai. How about we add more?" Kaidou asked Inui, in hopes of getting stronger at a faster rate.

"We'll be adding more weight later. Now then, we will be doing some drills. I hope you all appreciate the time I spent on coming up with these exercises. I made Imouto color these tennis balls different colors last night." The Regulars just sweat dropped at the fact that it sounded like Umi had done most of the actual work.

"As you can see there are cones set around the court matching the colors on the balls. Ryuzaki-sensei and I will be sending the balls towards you. Your task is to call out the color of the ball, and to hit the cone with the corresponding color." Inui was setting up the cones on the two courts.

"That doesn't sound so bad." Kawamura stated.

"Of course if you miss, or hit the wrong color, you will have to drink this new concoction I made yesterday. I made it, while Imouto was busy color coding the balls." Inui pulled out a pitcher containing a viscous, green liquid. The Regulars minus Fuji, recoiled when a bubble made its way to the surface of the liquid, and made a loud plop sound.

"I call it Inui Special Vegetable Juice." Inui's glasses glinted, and an ominous atmosphere surrounded him.

"_**That looks like pond scum."**_

"**Saa… looks tasty.**"

"No offence Inui-sempai, but there's no way I'm drinking something that looks like you made it in Chemistry class." Momoshiro declared.

"Ano… Momoshiro might be right. Is that safe to drink?" Oishi questioned delicately.

"I assure you it is made out of all edible ingredients. Plus it has many of the daily vitamins and nutrients your body needs," as he reassured his teammates that the drink was safe. "Besides you only have to drink it if you make a mistake. So lets begin."

The Regulars started the training exercise. They were able to successfully send the balls to the correct cone, even with the added weights.

"Red!"

"Blue!"

"Red!"

"Green!"

"Yellow!"

This continued, until the weights started to have their effect on some of them.

"Red!" Kikumaru called out, but he was unable to reach the ball in time.

"Well it looks like you get to be the first one to try Inui Special Vegetable Juice," Inui handed a small cup to Kikumaru.

"It can't be that bad. It's only made out of vegetables after all." Kikumaru drank the contents of the cup in one gulp.

A scream emanated from Kikumaru, as he collapsed to the ground. This caused Oishi to miss a cone. The remaining Regulars and the club members on Courts C & D could only stare at the results of Inui's juice.

"Eiji! I thought you said that juice was edible!" Oishi quickly made his way over to his passed out doubles partner.

"Correction, I said it was made out of edible ingredients. I'm still working on the flavor to make it more palatable." Inui was busy scribbling Kikumaru's reactions to the juice. He then took another cup, and handed it to Oishi. "You missed your shot. You have to drink too."

Oishi cringed, then looked towards Ryuzaki-sensei for help. She nodded her head, much to Oishi's dread. He only took one small sip, before he quickly made his way to the drinking fountain to wash the taste out of his mouth.

"**No way am I drinking that!" **coursed through everyone's head.

The remaining Regulars worked even harder to not mess up the exercise, even though the weights were making them rather tired. Of course Inui had already planned for that scenario as well.

"Blue!" Momoshiro called out as the ball was heading towards him.

"Don't you mean green, Momoshiro?" said Inui.

Startled by Inui's statement, Momoshiro hit the ball at the green cone. After hitting the cone, the ball rolled towards Momoshiro to reveal it was actually blue.

"Hey! That's cheating, Inui-sempai!"

"You need to be able to play with distractions, Momoshiro. Besides, my Inui Special Vegetable Juice doesn't look like a chemistry experiment." Inui's glasses glinted.

Momoshiro was kicking himself for opening his big mouth to criticize Inui's juice making skills. He slowly took the offered cup. The surviving Regulars waited with bated breath to see what would happen. Momoshiro could not decide if he wanted to be unconscious like Kikumaru, and not be able to taste it after the initial gulp; or if he should only sip a small amount like Oishi, and quickly wash it out. Deciding to get it over with quickly, he drank a small sip. Before his brain could even react to the horrible taste, his body had already switched to flight mode, and was making its way to the drinking fountain.

Court C & D, Start of Practice…

"Ok minna-san. Please take a weight from the box, and attach it onto your racquet. We will be doing 50 forehand and 50 backhand strokes using each hand. Then we will be doing sprinting drills." Umi said to the group, as she checked off things on a clipboard. Her racquet already had a weighted strap wrapped around the handle. The group quickly took a weight strap, and placed it onto their racquets like the one on Umi's racquet.

"This is to increase your arm strength. We did not have enough weights to have the same training as the Regulars. Alright lets start!" Umi picked up her racquet, and started to count out the swings, as the group swung their racquets in unison. At around backstroke #10 on their right arm, a foolish third year boy already had enough.

"This has got to be the worst training possible. Do you even know what your doing?" the third year boy questioned Umi's training method. He apparently had not figured out in his years on the tennis club, that it was never a good idea to ever question an Inui's judgement. Everyone else seemed to sense that was not the best thing to say, and moved away from him. Even Horio knew enough not to say something like that to Umi. Looking around the third year seemed to realize that he just put his foot in his mouth.

"Very well, Mikami-san (2). If you feel you are not going to benefit from this training, you may do the training menu for the Regulars," Umi motioned towards Courts A & B. Everyone turned in time to see Kikumaru drink the Inui Juice. The non-Regulars could only watch in horror, as Kikumaru fell to the ground, and Oishi ran off after drinking the Inui Juice.

"Of course, if you wish to stay in this training, then you will need to double the weight on your racquet." Umi was not even phased by the Regulars' plight .

"I… I changed my mind. Thi… This training isn't so bad. I'll g…g…go get another weight," stuttered Mikami. He quickly ran to the weight box, and strapped another one onto his racquet.

"That's what I thought. Ok, back to swinging!" Umi restarted the swing counts.

The group was on the left-handed backhand swings, when they saw Momoshiro run off to the drinking fountain too. It seemed to encourage the group to continue swinging out of fear of being forced to drink the juice too. Overall it was a successful practice for the non-Regulars.

Back on Court A & B…

"Yellow!" Fuji purposely hit the ball towards the red cone. The remaining Regulars just stared, as Fuji took a small gulp of the juice. They could not take their eyes away, as if they were watching a car crash in the making. When nothing happened, everyone became confused. Inui was furiously writing things into his notebook.

"How are you still standing?" shouted Momoshiro. He had returned from the drinking fountain, while supporting a dazed Oishi.

"Mmm.. it tastes pretty good. I recommend it." Fuji said with a smile. The others did not know what was worse: that Fuji drank the juice on purpose, or that she liked the juice.

"Ie… data. Maybe the female palate changes the effects of the juice…" Inui continued to mumble different theories. Fuji poured herself more Inui juice, much to the disgust of the other tennis players.

Practice ended with only Tezuka as the sole survivor. Kaidou could be seen passed out next to Kikumaru. Rin and Kawamura had made a mad dash to the drinking fountains after their first sips. There was no doubt amongst the club members now, Inui Special Vegetable Juice was something to be feared.

Omake: Mystery Drink Game

"Hey, Oni-chan!" Umi called out to her aniki, before he went to change in the locker room. Club members turned to see what the two siblings were up to, out of self preservation after seeing the effects of Inui's juice.

"Oh, I nearly forgot." Inui handed Umi a vial containing a green liquid. Everyone assumed it held the much dreaded Inui Special Vegetable Juice. She held the vial up to the fading sunlight to check the solution's consistency. Umi then unscrewed the cap off the vial, and placed it near her face. She waved her hand in front of the vial to get a faint scent of the substance contained (3). A few notations were made in a battered, old, green notebook.

A disposable pipet was then taken out of her pocket. A small amount of the liquid was drawn up by the pipet. Umi walked over to a small wild flower growing nearby. A single drop fell onto the flower. The flower immediately wilted on contact with the liquid. Members witnessing the event recoiled in fear.

"Hmm… fascinating. I missed playing Mystery Drink, Oni-chan. I'll have the ingredients figured out by next practice." Umi wrote more notes in the notebook.

"Ano… Umi-chan… What's Mystery Drink?" Sakuno carefully asked Umi. She had seen what had happened to the Regulars, and wanted to know if a new drink would appear by the next practice.

"Oh. The Inui Special Vegetable Juice is just one of many drinks Oni-chan has made over the years as part of a game we used to play. When we were little, Oni-chan would make a 'Mystery Drink.' Then I would have to figure out what was in it. If I got the ingredients right, he would have to drink it. If I got it wrong, I would have to drink it. The last time we played, the score was tied at 15-15. Okaasan made us stop before a winner could be claimed because Oni-chan had to go to the hospital for food poisoning." Umi continued to write things down in her green notebook that people could now see was labeled, "Mystery Drink Game Notebook."

"Remind me to teach you guys how to play cards, or get you a board game to play instead." Momoshiro told the two siblings.

"Those were never much of a challenge for us." Inui pushed his glasses up, which caused it to catch the light from the sunset.

The tennis members quickly retreated into the locker rooms to get away from the frightening duo. They did not look forward to the next practice.

Explanations

*1) yudan sezu ni ikou: Don't let your guard down. Of course if you don't know what that means, you really need to go back and watch/read the actual POT series.

*2) Mikami Koji is listed as a third year tennis club member

*3) That's actually what you do in the lab if you come across an unlabeled beaker. Never stick your face into it because you may end up sticking your face into acid fumes. If there is no smell, its probably water, but you never know. A sour smell is an acid, and a bitter almond smell means you got cyanide (in which case you run or stick it in a fume hood). So always label everything. Just a little tip for anyone who has chemistry class or lab.

AN: This chapter was mostly comedy, since the last few chapters were less light-hearted. I hope you all had fun with this one. I plan on having the next chapter with some drama and Rikkaidai team maybe appearing. So stay tuned. Read & Review please.


	13. Chapter 12: Broken Promise

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Just a warning, most of this super long chapter is drama/past fluff involving Umi. It is being told through a series of scene changes and flashbacks. Please let me know if it is too convoluted to follow. Don't worry; Rin will be the main focus for the next couple chapters after this. I'm already planning some past drama/future fluff for Fuji, and I need to come up with something for Rin. Hope you guys like it.

Thanks to all my reviews. I'll try to keep some of your suggestions in mind while I write. But there was a reason why I did not become an English major in college.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"**_Thoughts in English"_**

Chapter 12: Broken Promise

Rin was not quite sure how she had gotten into this situation. Her Sunday had started out just as she had planned, sleeping happily in her nice warm bed. Normally, she would stayed in bed until noon, then gotten up to eat, played a bit of tennis, and would go back to sleep again. Today, her "friends" had decided to interrupt her plans for the day.

- Flashback -

A lump could be seen under a set of covers in a Western style bed. Karupin was sleeping on top of the lump. The morning sunlight could not quite penetrate the thick curtains that were still covering the window, causing the room to remain dark.

Suddenly, the bedroom door slammed open, and the curtains were drawn. The room was immediately bathed in light. Karupin glared at the offending light, and quickly left the room for a more comfortable location.

"Rin wake up! A bunch of girls are downstairs saying that you agreed to go shopping with them. You can't keep them waiting!" Nanako yelled out to the still sleeping girl.

The lump moved further into the corner to try to avoid the sun's rays. Nanako grabbed the blankets away from her, when it became obvious that Rin was not going to get up on her own. A disheveled Rin sleepily looked at Nanako, trying to process what was happening.

"I told you there was a 98% chance that she wouldn't remember, and that she would still be asleep."

Rin turned her attention to the door to find Sakuno, Tomoka, and Umi dressed in street clothes. Sakuno was wearing a long, pink, floral peasant top, and white shorts underneath. Tomoka had on a white shirt with some random English phrases splattered across the front and back, and a layered green skirt that ended past her knees. Umi was wearing a white baby doll tee with Chococat on the front, a small vest with black in the back and purple in the front, and black leggings. Rin still could not figure out what was happening, and was confused as to why the girls were in her room.

"It's already past 10! How are you still asleep?" Tomoka yelled at Rin.

"Why are you guys here? It's Sunday. I'm going back to sleep." Rin had come out of her sleepy daze thanks to Tomoka screaming. She attempted to take the blankets back from Nanako, but Tomoka got to them first, and threw them across the room.

"Oh no, you don't."

"Ano… We asked if you wanted to go shopping and explore Tokyo today while we were having lunch on Friday. You said yes at the time. So here we are." Sakuno told Rin.

Rin tried to recall what she had said on that day. She remembered that she had forgotten her lunch again. The girls had been talking about something, while she had been busy eating the donated food. She had been nodding her head and making the appropriate sounds of acknowledgment to them, not paying attention to what was actually being said.

"**_I really need to pay more attention to what's happening around me when I'm hungry."_**

Rin sighed and decided it was best to make them think she just forgot. It would not go over well with Tomoka, if the other girls found out that she had not been listening to them in the first place. She finally got up, and started to look for an outfit in the closet.

"Oh, you should wear this and this." Tomoka took out a pink tank top and a short black skirt from the closet.

Rin glared at the outfit chosen. She did not like pink very much. It made her look too girly. The top had been a gift from some random friend of her mother's. Plus, she was too used to dressing as a boy during the American Junior Tournaments, causing her to favor shorts/pants over skirts/dresses. In fact, she always wore shorts underneath her school uniform. She did not mind wearing the skirt for class, but it did not help that she grew up with a hentai father. It had given her an aversion to wearing anything that would let a hentai get a glimpse of her underwear.

"Yadda."

"What? Why not?" Tomoka thought the outfit was rather cute. She wondered if Rin would be willing to let her borrow it.

"I never liked skirts that much. Too many hentais try to look up your skirt." Rin was thinking about her father downstairs leering at a swimsuit magazine. She then imagined her in the chosen outfit being leered at by dirty old men like her father and shuddered.

"Ok…." The outfit was placed back into the closet.

"Rin-chan, how about this one? This is nice." Sakuno had pulled out red shorts that were draped in such a way that it looked like a skirt (AN: Are those still called skorts? I haven't worn one since I was eleven.), and a short sleeve white shirt with a red Fila logo on it.

"That looks cute too. Your clothes are so nice. Would it be alright if I borrow some of your clothes Rin-chan?" Tomoka commented.

"I have to agree with them. Plus it's practical if we want to play a game of street tennis." Umi threw in her opinion as well.

"**_This could go on forever if I say no to Sakuno-chan's suggestion."_**

Rin decided to consent to the outfit to keep the girls from rifling through more of her clothing. She got more annoyed when Tomoka refused to let her wear her Fila cap.

"You look too much like a boy when you wear that."

**_"I can already tell this isn't going to be as fun as it should be."_**

- End Flashback -

This brings us back to the situation at hand, with Rin sitting in a chair outside a changing room inside a trendy clothing store. Sakuno and Umi were seated in the neighboring chairs looking as worn out as Rin. Different colored bags surrounded the girls. When the girls said shopping, Rin had thought it meant some light window shopping. It turns out that Tomoka is a champion of the sport known as "Power Shopping."

The girls had started their outing at a tennis shop, to drop off their racquets to be restrung. This was mostly at Umi's suggestion, since the District tournament was going to happen next Sunday. Tomoka was too impatient to wait in the shop for the racquets to be finished, so she dragged the girls to a nearby boutique to look at new summer/fall fashions. This lead to them going to another shop to look at swimsuits after Rin inadvertently stated she missed the beaches of California while looking at a pair of sandals. Tomoka proceeded to force all the girls into different beachwear, then accessories to go with the outfits, and it just snowballed from there. She also made them pay for the outfit she deemed looked the best on them. The next stop was a brief lunch at a small café, and then more shopping.

The girls had crisscrossed their way through the area around the tennis shop, going to all of Tomoka's favorite shops and any she deemed looked good. Umi was beginning to think that shopping with Tomoka would make an excellent form of training for the Regulars because of the distance they had traveled, and the rigor of carrying all of the heavy bags. Rin was actually having some fun once she got over her initial grumpiness of being woken up. Her old friends never went on shopping trips with her, so this outing made her feel like less of an outsider. Of course, she would have been even happier if she was carrying fewer bags. Sakuno was slightly used to Tomoka's shopping sprees. So she was not the least bit surprised by the amount of time Tomoka spent comparing two black shoes, whose only difference was an extra strap. The trio were finally able to convince Tomoka to return to the tennis shop after pointing out that they needed to get their racquets back.

An angry gurgle sounded from Tomoka's stomach as they exited the tennis store. This prompted Sakuno to take over their little trip. There was a nearby sweets shop, which she had read about, that supposedly had the best strawberry cake in Tokyo, and a large selection of flavored teas. All the girls agreed that it would be a great stop to end their outing.

The quartet arrived at a quaint little shop painted in varying shades of pink, with a sign outside in the shape of a strawberry cake. The sign read "Ichigo Tea Café." Rin could only sweat drop at the over the top decorations of the shop's facade.

"They better have an amazing strawberry cake, or else they'll need to think about changing their name and motif," Rin said out loud.

The other girls nodded in agreement. They then entered the store. The bell above the door jingled when they opened the door. The interior of the store was decorated in a baby Lolita style, to make it extra cute. However, the girls were more attracted to the display cases. Mousses, petit fours, tarts, and tortes were lined up in rows along the cases' shelves. Rin's mouth started to water at the different treats. Each looked better than the next, as her eyes roamed. The other girls were just as spellbound by the beautiful pastries in front of them.

The girls' attentions were taken away from the treats, when the bell chimed again. A group of people about their age had entered the store. The group was wearing yellow and black tennis jerseys, and carrying tennis bags. No one noticed Umi flinch at the sight of the uniforms.

**"Not him. Please, not him."**

- Umi's Flashback -

A seven-year-old Umi, without glasses, could be seen running through a park. In her hands was an object wrapped in red cellophane, tied off with a pink ribbon. A small paper heart made out of red construction paper was sticking out of the top of the bundle. She was excited about giving her Valentine's Day gift to her chosen Valentine.

She arrived at a small amphitheater in the park used for summer concerts. The stage was made out of concrete, and the seats were large concrete blocks with grass growing on the seats' tops. At the bottom of the amphitheater, a ten-year-old boy with brown hair was waiting patiently on the stage, next to a tennis bag.

"Renji-kun!" she shouted out to the boy. The boy looked up and smiled at Umi. She smiled back, as she hurriedly made her way down the steps.

"Gomen, Renji-kun for making you wait so long. I know you and Oni-chan are busy training for the next tournament, but I wanted to give you your Valentine's Day gift on Valentine's Day. Sensei had us practice writing English by making these cards. Okaasan thought it would be nice to make chocolates to go with them, so the two of us spent all day yesterday making them. I hope you like the chocolates. It's the first time I made them by hand. Happy Valentine's Day." Umi had said it all in one breath due to her excitement. She was blushing, as the gift was handed to Yanagi Renji. Umi was anxious about his reaction to the gift.

"Arigato, Umi-chan. I'm sure they will be delicious because you took the time to make them yourself." Yanagi smiled at Umi, making her blush even harder.

- End Flashback -

- Present: Scene Change to Earlier in the Day -

Yanagi was having a good day. He had been able to gather a lot of data for his team on his spying mission the other day. Rikkai Dai Fuzoku tennis team was 100% assured to become National champions for a third time in a row. Because he had been allowed to miss practice the other day, he was required to make up the practice today even though it was a Sunday. His buchou, Yukimura Seiichi, decided since Yanagi had to make up for the missed practice, why not have the rest of the team practice with him.

Fortunately for all of the unwilling participants in the extra practice, Yanagi had pointed out that it was their self-proclaimed tensai's birthday (1). The lovely Marui Botan was celebrating her fifteen birthday. Yukimura, being the generous buchou that he was, ended practice early to celebrate. Their buchou thought it would be good for team building. This meant Yanagi got out of making up the full practice. As an added bonus, his teammates were providing him excellent data for his next training menu.

"Marui-sempai, what do you want to do for your birthday now that you're an old maid?" A younger boy said with an impish smile.

"What did you just call me you seaweed head?" A tick mark could be seen forming above the redhead's forehead, as she referred to the boy's rumpled black hair.

"Oy, you said you would stop calling me that! Have you forgotten in your old age?" The boy cackled with glee as he avoided Marui's swipes. The duo started a chase scene around the Rikkaidai tennis courts.

"Run Akaya!" Another boy with silver hair styled in a rat-tail, yelled out to his fleeing kohai.

"You shouldn't encourage him Masaharu-kun." A boy with purple hair and glasses commented to his doubles partner, Niou Masaharu.

"Ah, lighten up Yagyuu." The now identified Yagyuu Hiroshi just sighed and readjusted his glasses.

"Should we stop them?" Marui's doubles partner, a tall, dark skinned boy with a shaved head asked the other Regulars. His name was Jackal Kuwahara.

"Don't worry. They'll stop right… now." The tallest out of the group stated. This boy had brown hair, and his eyes were half lidded.

"Akaya! Tarandoru!" A stern looking boy, wearing a black cap slapped the fleeing boy in the face at the same time Yanagi had predicted. Kirihara Akaya was about to complain about the slap, but stopped when he saw the stern boy raise his hand again. Marui stuck her tongue out at the injured Kirihara from behind the capped boy, to add more insult to injury. Kirihara pouted and crossed his arms petulantly.

"Right as usual Yanagi," Niou commented on the brunette's prediction.

"Now, now, I think he learned his lesson Genichirou. Akaya that wasn't very nice. Apologize to Botan-chan." Their buchou, a boy with soft, wavy blue hair, lightly scolded Kirihara for his behavior, as he prevented his fuku-buchou, Sanada Genichirou, from slapping him again. A gleam in his eye told Kirihara that he needed to apologize.

"Gomen, Marui-sempai. You don't look like you aged a day." Kirihara then said under his breath, "That is to say, a day over a hundred."

"What was that Akaya?" Yukimura asked sweetly.

"I… I said 'Happy Birthday Marui-sempai,'" sweat was starting to form under Kirihara's brow.

"That's what I thought." Yukimura said with a knowing smile.

"So what do you want for your birthday? Puri," Niou asked the still annoyed Marui. Her mood immediately brightened

"I want cake!"

"That was an obvious answer, but what else do you want?" Jackal asked.

"More cake!"

The boys sweat dropped at the girl's single-mindedness.

"I want to go to the best strawberry cake shop in Japan. It's supposed to be somewhere in Tokyo. Please, please, please. Can we go?" Marui was dancing around the group, as she pleaded with them to go to the store of her choice.

"You mean the Ichigo Tea Café?" Yanagi questioned.

"Hai! It was featured in the latest Teen Shoujo Monthly. I've got to try it!" Marui whipped out the magazine. The article talking about the café was decorated with hearts and stars Marui had drawn during class.

"Yanagi, how do you know about a cake shop featured in a girl's magazine?" A mischievous smile appeared on Niou's lips.

"My Aneki wouldn't stop talking about it last week." Yanagi could already feel a headache coming from remembering the incessant chatter. His older sister had gone to Tokyo to meet up with old friends, and could not stop talking about the place when she got back.

"Then it's settled we'll go to there," said Yukimura.

- Present, Back to Ichigo Tea Café -

Marui immediately made her way to the display case. Her eyes glazed over as she looked dreamily at the pastries in front of her. The boys felt rather uncomfortable surrounded by the numerous amounts of pink, frills, bows, and hearts.

"Sempai-tachi this place hurts my eyes. It's too girly here." Kirihara whined.

"I kind of like the scenery." Niou's eyes were drawn to the group of four girls looking at the display case with Marui.

"It's impolite to stare at young ladies, Masaharu-kun," Yagyuu admonished Niou's behavior.

"What? I'm just noting their tennis bags," Niou innocently answered back. The boys then noticed that three out of the four girls had tennis bags.

"Ho… this place isn't so bad after all if it draws in pretty tennis girls." Kirihara beamed and made his way over to the group.

"Ladies, how are you this fine day?" Kirihara put on a charming smile. All the girls, except Umi, turned their attention away from the display case to look at the boy. Umi seemed too engrossed by the tea menu and kept her back turned. Sakuno blushed at being addressed by an attractive upperclassman and turned away. Rin took notice of his uniform and tennis gear, but deemed that the food was more interesting. Tomoka giggled and decided to be the spokesman for the group.

"Great, thanks for asking Sempai. Did you guys just get out of practice?" Tomoka batted her eyelashes at the boy. Niou decided to steal the scene from his kohai and answered for him.

"Yes, we just finished. I couldn't help but notice your friends have tennis bags too. What team are you guys on? We're from Rikkaidai."

"That's the school that won Nationals last year," said Sakuno. She was getting over her initial bout of shyness now that tennis was involved. Rin decided to pay attention when she heard the word, "Nationals," and turned her attention back to the group of boys. Umi still had not turned around to avoid being seen by a certain Rikkaidai Regular.

"Why yes. But you lovely ladies didn't answer my question."

"Oh, gomen. We're from Seigaku," said Tomoka.

Yukimura and Sanada were the only ones to see Yanagi wince at hearing Seigaku mentioned. They thought they knew the reason, but Yanagi was actually thinking about something else entirely.

- Yanagi's Flashback -

It was a few days after White Day. Yanagi and Inui had just won another doubles tournament together. Because they had spent so much time training, Yanagi missed Umi's birthday, which was on White Day. He and his sister had spent most of the previous day looking for a gift for Umi. He still had the Valentine card she gave him the month before, hidden away in a box under his bed. This was mainly, so his sister would not keep tease him about having a future sister-in-law. He wanted the gift to be special, since he was going to tell her about the family moving to Kanagawa. The gift was going to be something she would remember him by.

He was sitting on one of the seats in the park amphitheater waiting for the now eight-year-old Umi to arrive. Next to him was a small, white gift bag. He heard footsteps approaching, and turned in the direction of the sound. The two children quietly greeted each other. Umi sat down next to Yanagi. The bag separated the two.

"Gomen, Umi-chan. I would have given this to you sooner, but Sadaharu and I were busy with the last tournament." He pushed the bag towards Umi.

"Arigato Renji-kun. It's alright though. I know the two of you were training hard."

Umi took the gift from Yanagi. Her hand reached inside to pull out a white bow as big as her hand. The bow had dangling white beads; lace circled the knot of the bow. On the back of the bow was a hair clip, so she could place it in her hair.

"Oh it's so pretty. Arigato Renji-kun! I love it!" she exclaimed. She quickly clipped it to the left side of her head.

"It will be perfect for the performance I have in June. I got picked to perform this year. It's the first time I get to be on stage. You'll come won't you, Renji-kun?"

Yanagi wanted to tell her that he would not be able to. That by the time she had her performance, he would have moved away. He desperately wanted to tell her, so he could then be able to tell her brother as well. But looking at her bright smile, and shining eyes, he could not take that away from her. He already knew she would cry if she found out. He wanted to remember her always as this happy little girl.

"Of course I'll come. I wouldn't miss it."

"Yosh! Let me show you what I've memorized so far for the performance." Umi made her way to the empty stage below them. She slipped her ballet slippers on, and then went to the middle of the stage.

Yanagi's heart was already clenching, as he watched Umi dance for him. He knew he should have said that he could not go, but he could never say no to her.

- End Flashback -

*whistle* "That's the team that has Tezuka Kunimitsu as the buchou." Kirihara commented about the girls' school.

"Pardon my teammates for their rudeness, but we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Yagyuu Hiroshi. How do you, do." Yagyuu had politely taken Tomoka's hand and bowed. This caused even the outgoing Tomoka to blush.

"Always playing the gentleman aren't you, Yagyuu. I'm Niou Masaharu. The seaweed-headed guy over there is Kirihara Akaya. The cue ball is Jackal Kuwahara. The girl drooling over the cakes is Marui Botan." Niou stuck his thumb over towards Marui who was currently ordering one of each item in the display cases.

"The overly stern boy with the cap is our fuku-buchou, Sanada Genichirou. The boy with the blue hair is our buchou, Yukimura Seiichi. The tall guy in the back is Yanagi Renji." Niou had motioned towards the rest of the group. His teammates were slightly annoyed that Niou had introduced the team using such bad descriptions. Umi still kept her back towards the group through the introductions.

"So care to introduce yourselves?" Kirihara asked the girls. Tomoka giggled.

"Oh, of course. I'm Osakada Tomoka."

"Ano… Ryuzaki Sakuno," Sakuno bowed to the group.

"Echizen Rin," she was sizing them up to see what her competition would be for Nationals.

The group expectantly waited for Umi to turn around, and say something. There was a moment of silence, until she slowly turned to look directly at Yanagi.

"Inui Umi. Ohayo, Yanagi." Umi said his name with a small amount of venom to it.

- Umi's Flashback -

Umi was practicing some dance moves in her room. In her hair was the white bow she had gotten from Yanagi. She heard loud footsteps and her brother's bedroom door slamming shut. Curious about what had happened to upset her brother, she exited her room into the hallway. She softly knocked on the door. When she did not hear a response, she slowly opened the door.

Inside, Inui was grabbing pictures with Yanagi in them and throwing them into a pile on the bed. Some of the trophies the pair had won together were already in the pile. Umi watched from the doorway, as her brother gathered all of the things that had anything to do with Yanagi.

"Oni-chan, what happened?" Umi asked softly.

*sigh* "Renji did not come to practice today."

"Is he sick? Did he hurt himself?" Umi started to worry that something horrible had happened to her crush.

"He isn't coming to practice ever again." Before she could think the worst, Inui continued. "He moved to Kanagawa prefecture without saying anything about it."

"But… I never got to say good bye."

"Gomen, Imouto."

"My performance is going happen in less than two months. He promised to come see my first show. He probably did not know he was moving and will say goodbye then. You'll see." Umi rushed back to her room to practice more. She wanted her performance to be perfect for Yanagi. Inui did not have the heart to let her know Yanagi had said a tearful goodbye to him at their last practice together. Inui sadly returned to his task at hand.

- End Flashback -

Yanagi flinched at being addressed by his family name and with such anger behind it.

"Hey, Yanagi, you didn't tell us you knew a cute girl from Seigaku. You've been holding out," as Niou lightly nudged Yanagi with his shoulder.

"Umi-chan… it's been awhile."

"It's been 3 years, 10 months, and 28 days (2)," Umi spat out. Yanagi looked away ashamed. The others were not sure what was happening, but stayed silent. Even Marui who had been getting her pastries knew not to break the silence.

"Hai, it has." Yanagi was the first to speak.

"Gomen, minna-san. I have to go." Umi did a swift bow to everyone, and fled from the shop.

"What the hell was that about Yanagi-sempai?" asked Kirihara.

Kirihara never got an answer because Yanagi was already out the door, running after Umi. The two groups looked at each other for a second, before the Seigaku girls took off to follow the pair out of the shop. The Rikkaidai group would have left just as quickly, but Sanada was stuck paying for all of the sweets Marui had chosen. The others had been too preoccupied with the girls that no one had curtailed Marui's purchase. Sanada was already vowing to have her run triple laps for spending all of his allowance for the week, birthday or no birthday.

- Scene Change -

Umi was sitting on a grassy seat in the park amphitheater of her youth. She was looking down onto the stage with a sad look.

The two groups that had followed her were currently hidden behind the trees bordering the amphitheater. They knew that they could easily be caught, but Umi seemed to be in her own world. The interlopers nearly had a problem when Kaidou was about to jog down the amphitheater steps as part of his Sunday training. Niou and Kirihara quickly grabbed him and dragged him into the tree line.

"What the…!" Tomoka covered Kaidou's mouth before he could say anything else.

"Gomen Kaidou-sempai." Sakuno bowed profusely to Kaidou, as he looked at the group of people who had grabbed him.

"You were about to interrupt something." Tomoka had finally let go and pointed towards Umi and Yanagi.

"What's Rikkaidai doing here? Isn't that Inui-sempai's imouto?" Kaidou hissed out in annoyance.

"Sh… quiet they might hear you." Niou remarked. The group returned their attention back to Umi now that Yanagi had decided to approach her.

"Just tell me why." Umi did not need to turn around to know Yanagi was standing behind her.

Yanagi had spent a lot of time thinking of the words he would say the next time he saw her. He had thought of countless number of ways to apologize. A notebook in a box under his bed, also containing a worn Valentine's Day card, was full of notes on what he could say. But now that he was actually facing her, his mind was blank.

"I…. I…."

Umi continued to stare out at the stage. She did not want him to see that she was ready to cry.

- Umi's Flashback -

It was opening night for Umi's performance. The seats were quickly being filled, as the show was about to begin. In her hair was the white bow given to her by Yanagi. She quickly peeked out to scan the crowd. Her family was easy to spot, thanks to her father and brother's glasses glinting in the light. Next to her brother was an empty seat. She still held out hope that Yanagi would come as promised.

The lights in the theater dimmed and the show started. Umi got swept up in the excitement of performing for the first time that she did not check again until she was on stage. Her smile became forced, when she still saw that the seat remained empty. She scanned the audience again and the doorways, but there was still no sign of Yanagi.

- End Flashback -

"You had promised." Umi's voice broke with the word, promise. It seemed to be the trigger for her tears to fall.

Yanagi hung his head. He could not see her this way. The image of the happy eight-year-old Umi was a stark contrast to the crying twelve-year-old Umi in front of him.

"I don't care about interrupting them. That teme made her cry. Real men don't make girls cry." Kaidou got ready to go defend his kohai, since Inui was not around to do it.

"No, she needs face this." Rin had taken a hold of Kaidou's arm to stop him.

"Hai, the two need to work this out before they can both move on," Yukimura agreed with Rin on her assessment of the situation, having a clearer picture than most of those present about the situation.

"For what it's worth I'm sorry Umi-chan. I never wanted to make a promise I couldn't keep to you. I know I should have told you. I should have explained to you why I couldn't make or keep that promise. I just never wanted to say goodbye to you." Yanagi's mind was finally able to come up with some of the things he had always wanted to say to her.

"I never meant to hurt you Umi-chan. I did not want leave you or Sadaharu-kun."

"I know that already!" Umi screamed out to him, surprising Yanagi and the eavesdroppers. Yanagi had thought she was mad about breaking his promise.

"It's been 3 years, 10 months, and 28 days! All that time and you never looked back. Never called, never wrote, and never visited. You were too busy with your new friends, your new team to remember us! To remember me!"

Umi had finally gotten up and was facing Yanagi. To everyone's surprise she had taken her glasses off to wipe her tears away. Jade eyes glared up at Yanagi's startled brown eyes. He had missed those eyes, but he never thought they would ever look at him with such anger.

"Wow, Megane-chan is pretty hot when she's angry and without her glasses." Kirihara stage whispered to Jackal.

Kaidou took offense to the comment and hissed angrily at the boy.

"Yikes!" He quickly hid behind Jackal to get away from the scary guy.

"I got over you breaking your promise a long time ago. I just want to know why you never talked to me again. I…I thought… you…" Umi could not finish.

Yanagi knew what she meant, but the others were left confused. He looked down in shame, as he answered her unfinished sentence.

"It is difficult to admit, but it's because I am coward. I couldn't face you. I was too afraid that your friendship and love for me had turned to hate. To me, it was better not knowing how you felt, rather then knowing for sure that you despised me. I'm sorry that I didn't have the courage to tell you. I never got to tell you that I cared about you just as much as you cared about me, all those years ago." He was still looking down, unable to face Umi.

He already knew it was too late, and that she hated him. If only he had said something. Would things have still been the same? Would their affection for each other have grown? These questions would remain just that, questions with no answers.

A comfortable silence descended between the pair. Finally, she gently placed her hands on either side of his face. He was forced to look directly into her eyes.

"I could never hate you Renji-kun." He could see her tears had stopped falling. Her eyes still looked beautiful to him, even though they were red and puffy from crying.

"But I don't think I could ever hold the same love for you, as I had all those years ago." Umi now had a sad smile as she looked at Yanagi. He understood what she meant, and returned an equally sad smile. She kissed him on the cheek. Her glasses were back in place, blocking him from seeing the eyes he used to love. She turned away to gather her things.

"Did you stop dancing to start tennis?" Yanagi motioned towards her tennis bag. He did not want her to leave. He did not want this moment to end just yet.

- Umi's Flashback -

A first year Inui could be seen entering the Inui household. He had just come back from watching the first part of the Kantou tournament. Seigaku had not been able to get past the Tokyo Prefecturals, but he wanted to gather data on tennis teams for next year. He had seen his past doubles partner cheering with other Rikkaidai first years.

He was mulling over whether to inform his sister about the sighting. He knew about the large crush Umi used to have for Yanagi. Inui had not said anything about it to the two since he could see Yanagi had reciprocated Umi's affection. He was going to address it when they got older, but it did not matter anymore.

Inui was still deciding to say anything about it, when he saw his sister in her room. Umi was rearranging her shelves to make space for another dance competition trophy. After Yanagi had left, she immersed herself into dance to the point where many considered her among the top twenty elementary school dancers in Japan. In her hair was the same white bow. She continued to wear it everyday, even when their mother had tried to give her a new one. The bow was not the dazzlingly shade of white it started out as, it had gained an almost ivory look to it from age. Seeing the bow helped him to decide. He knew it would be better for her to find out from him, rather than find out on her own.

"Imouto."

Umi turned to look at her brother. The Inui family genetics had finally caught up to Umi, since her first dance performance. Glasses now obscured her eyes from view. Their mother was rather sad that she couldn't see any of her children's beautiful eyes.

"I saw Renji today."

Umi seemed to stiffen at the mention of her long lost crush. Her hand traveled to the bow in her hair. She remained silent, which Inui took as an invitation to continue.

"He joined Rikkaidai. They won the Nationals a couple years ago, and are likely to win this year as well."

He waited to see her reaction, but she still had not said anything. Inui turned to leave her room.

"Teach me to play tennis."

"What?" Inui turned back to face Umi.

"Teach me to play tennis." Her face was determined.

"You never showed an interest before. You always wanted to dance. Why do you want to play now?" Inui was afraid she thought he was unhappy being a singles player. She might have thought seeing Yanagi had made him sad, so her solution was to play doubles tennis with him to cheer him up.

"I want to know what's so great about it. You both love the game. So I want to know why it is so much more important to him then…." Umi trailed off.

Inui did not need to know whom the "him" referred to, or for her to finish her sentence. He wanted to say no, but like Yanagi, he could never say no to her.

- End Flashback -

"No, but tennis increases my stamina 40% more than dance alone. This allows me to be less tired during performances." Umi turned to leave.

"Yes, that would make sense." Yanagi smiled at hearing percentages from Umi.

He and the Inui siblings used to speak only in percentages as their own secret code when they were young. The reminder of his childhood had him wanting to say something to make her stay longer. He knew that the two of them could never go back to the way it was. But just for this moment, he wanted to pretend that nothing had changed between the two of them. That they were having one of their usual meetings at the amphitheater like they always did. He wanted them to talk about their day, have Umi show him the new dance steps she had learned on the stage below, and he would talk about tennis moves he read about and wanted to learn. Just one last time.

"Don't worry Renji-kun. You'll see me at the Kantou Tournament, where I'm going to be a Regular with Oni-chan." Umi looked back at Yanagi.

"I'm sure you will, Umi-chan." He knew she would too or at least try her best to make it happen.

"Goodbye, Renji-kun," Umi said with a sense of finality.

"Goodbye… Umi-chan."

The two knew it meant more than just the simple goodbye for now. It was the goodbye they were supposed to have all those years ago. The pair left the amphitheater separately, not noticing the eavesdroppers. Their current thoughts were about the past.

"That was sadder than the Korean soap operas Obaasan watches. Do you think Umi-chan will be ok?" Sakuno sniffled.

"She looked alright when she left, Sakuno-chan. But who knew Umi-chan and that Rikkaidai player had that much of a history together." Tomoka added.

"I think it is time we leave as well." Yukimura said to his teammates.

"We should apologize to you and your friend for causing her so much distress from our meeting. I hope you are not mad at us too." Yagyuu bowed to the girls.

"It's ok. There is no way you guys knew this was going to happen." Tomoka blushed at the polite nature of Rikkaidai's Gentleman and waved off his concerns.

Niou was annoyed that his doubles partner always seemed to be better with girls, and did not even notice. Kirihara pouted and grumbled that his sempai always stole any girls he finds away. The Rikkaidai players finally said their farewells to the girls, and left to go look for their missing teammate.

"Gomen, Kaidou-sempai for making you watch that, but you would have run right past them and ruined the moment." Tomoka bowed low towards Kaidou.

"Fsssshh, whatever. Just make sure that teme stays away from her. I still think you should have let me punch him in the face for making her cry." For some reason as he was watching the pair, he became a little jealous of Yanagi for having had such a close relationship with Umi. He did not know why, and decided to not think about it.

"Ano… I'm sure Umi-chan would be glad to know you care about her well being so much, but I think that would have made things worse Kaidou-sempai." Sakuno tried to change his mind about inflicting violence on Yanagi.

Kaidou did not feel like arguing, since his own feelings were mixed about what happened. He was already 20 minutes behind his normal training schedule, and did not have the time to argue anyways. He said a gruff goodbye to the girls and resumed his jog. The trio watched him leave before saying anything else.

"We should apologize to you too Rin-chan. You probably hated all of this. Next time we'll let you decide on what we'll do." Sakuno said to Rin.

"Don't worry about it. I was having fun, although I like just window shopping more. There is less to carry." She made a point of lifting the four bags she had along with her tennis bag.

"Well you guys all looked so good in those outfits. You should feel honored. After all, I the Great Tomoka took the time to give you fashion tips, Rin-chan." Tomoka said with a huff.

"Tomoka-chan. Never, ever, say anything like that again. You sounded too much like that loud mouth guy in tennis club with a uni-brow just then." Rin made a fast retreat when Tomoka started ranting at her about how she was nothing like Horio.

- Scene Change -

Umi was sitting at her desk looking over the training menu for the non-Regulars. She was adjusting a few of the exercises after reviewing the data she had collected on Saturday's practices. She wanted to get the menu finalized for her brother to review before Monday's morning practice. Displayed in a plastic case, an off-white bow, laid on her desk. A few of the beads were missing, and lace had been torn in places from constant use. Umi looked up from her work to glance at the bow. She then returned back to her work.

Explanations

*1) Marui's birthday is on April 20th.

*2) Actually did the math on this one, using the time given by Inui in his match against Yanagi. I set the dates for the tournaments in my story, and subtracted the difference. It actually worked out that April 20th would make this meeting exactly 4 years since Inui and Yanagi's last practice (includes the extra day for a leap year in the calculations). Thus, the actual date of when Umi last saw Yanagi was on March 17th give or take a day, four years prior to the start of this story. How's that for research. V ^o^

AN: So… too much angst? Did the ending seem too cliche? I wanted this to end slightly bittersweet. I'm kind of worried about your reactions to this chapter, but I wanted to give the reason why Umi started tennis. Like I said I have one for Fuji coming up in a bit. Rin's is kind of obvious, but I want it to change and evolve through the story. I need to think about how I want to portray that. I will probably write an omake later about something that happened or may have happened during the girls' shopping trip. I wanted to get to the scene involving Rikkaidai quickly, so I left out a whole bunch of stuff that could have happened during the shopping trip. This chapter is nearly double the length of any of my previous chapters, so don't expect another update till next week. Read & review please.


	14. Chapter 13: Ugh, Doubles

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Thanks for the reviews. I just wanted to explain a bit of the last chapter. Umi just had a huge crush on Yanagi when she was younger. He had some affection towards her as well. But so much time has elapsed since the two had seen each other, it did not seem right for them to suddenly start dating. The last scene was supposed to show that she wasn't completely over him. Anyways, at the end of this chapter is a super long omake that I promised you guys. Enjoy.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"**_Thoughts in English"_**

Chapter 13: Ugh, Doubles

The incident during the girls' shopping trip was never mentioned when class started on Monday. The others could tell Umi did not want to talk about it, and respected her wishes. Besides, they were all busy getting ready for the District tournament.

"Neh, Rin-chan. How about this sign?"

Tomoka held up a poster board decorated with bright colors and bold red letters saying:

_Rin_

_Sure To_

_Win_

"Stop doing rhyming schemes and puns for those posters, Tomoka-chan!" Rin yelled at Tomoka in frustration. Tomoka just looked mildly offended, but decided not to upset Rin anymore by arguing with her over the brilliance of the last slogan.

The group was spending the Friday lunch break to make posters for Sunday's matches. Rin had been roped into cutting out tennis related pictures out of old magazines to decorate the posters they were making. She was starting to lose her temper after seeing the many corny phrases Tomoka had made into posters for her.

"At least it was better than the _'Go, Fight, Rin'_ poster she made," Umi commented. Umi was currently adding glitter to a poster that said "Seigaku Tennis Club."

"I thought it was good Tomo-chan." Sakuno was painting a large banner that said encouraging words for Seigaku in calligraphy.

"You have really good calligraphy Sakuno-chan. Did you take classes?" Umi was setting aside her poster to dry, as she admired Sakuno's work.

"No. I just like it as a hobby. I don't think it's that good." Sakuno blushed at the compliment.

"Don't be so modest. Sakuno-chan has been doing calligraphy for years," said Tomoka, as she wrote a simple _"Fight, Fight, Fight"_ in Seigaku school colors onto her new poster.

"She's right Sakuno-chan. You should be proud of it." Rin said to try to encourage Sakuno.

"Arigato, minna." Sakuno hesitated in what she wanted to say next.

"Ano… I've been meaning to ask you guys, but I did not want to be a bother. Will you guys help me be a better tennis player?"

Sakuno had thought about it for a while now. She knew she needed more direct help if she wanted to become a better tennis player. After seeing Rin and Umi do so well, she did not want to be left behind. Sakuno was determined to become a better player to make her grandmother proud.

"Sure, Sakuno-chan." Rin agreed immediately.

"Of course, but I would like to see you play a match. I can generate a better training menu for you after gathering your data. How about we go to the street court after practice today? I can see what we need to work on. Plus, Oni-chan wanted me to collect data on players who frequent the street courts."

"Moi, no fair. I've got to baby-sit today. Why can't you guys do that tomorrow?" Tomoka whined.

"Districts are this Sunday. Oni-chan needs the data today, so we can adjust strategies accordingly for tomorrow's morning practice."

"Fine, but I get to pick the next time you guys train Sakuno-chan. I want to learn too, you know."

The girls returned to their poster making without further incident. This was mostly because Tomoka had run out of witty slogans for her posters.

- Line Break -

"Ano... Momoshiro-sempai... why are you following us?" Sakuno finally asked.

The three girls had been heading towards the nearby street court to check out the competition, and train Sakuno. All were wearing various street clothes at Umi's insistence.

"If you wear the Regular's uniform, Rin-chan, I won't be able to gather the data I need. Too many around here will recognize it," said Umi.

So the girls were all wearing nondescript shorts and shirts to not draw attention to themselves. Rin was wearing her trademark white cap. They had noticed Momoshiro following them for the last two blocks. Sakuno was the first to finally ask why he was following the group.

"Because, Mamushi said something about you girls running into Rikkaidai last week. I'm just here to make sure that rival teams don't harrass you."

"Did he say what happened?" Sakuno looked cautiously towards Umi to see her reaction.

"No, he just said you guys met them. He didn't say anything else. Why, did something happen?" Momoshiro looked at the three suspiciously.

"Nothing you need to know about Sempai." Rin stated to draw attention away from Umi.

"Argh. What have I said about you calling me Sempai! It's Momo-chan, or Momo-sempai! That goes for all three of you." Momoshiro continued to rant about how rude Rin was to him.

*sigh* "With him around, I won't be able to gather accurate data on our opponents." Umi was looking at Momoshiro, who was still wearing his Regular's uniform.

"Our main focus is training Sakuno-chan. I'm sure you can gather your data well enough with him here, Librarian-chan." Rin said to keep Momoshiro from ranting more about how all his kohai do not respect him.

They reached the street court shortly after Momoshiro stopped talking. There were several people on the court watching a doubles match in progress. Most were not wearing uniforms, making Momoshiro stand out more. A few of the spectators took notice.

"Oh... looks like Seigaku has made an appearance." Someone in the crowd made a comment out loud. Umi gave Momoshiro a pointed look, while he looked apologetically towards her.

"Do you guys know the rules of this court?" A girl about Momoshiro's age came up to the group. She had short orange hair with clips holding back her bangs. She was wearing a purple jacket, a white tennis skirt, and black bicycle shorts.

"No, what are they?" Momoshiro asked.

"Since we only have one court, all matches are doubles. One game determines if you win or lose. The losers switch with a waiting pair. By the way I'm Tachibana An."

"Ah, I'm Momoshiro Takeshi, 2nd year. But you can just call me Momo-chan." Momoshiro flirted with An. The Seigaku girls could only shake their heads. It was the same way he had introduced himself to Rin on her first day. Deciding it was only polite the others introduced themselves as well.

"Ano... since it is doubles, how are we going to split into pairs?" Sakuno asked. She was worried now that she saw the amount of people at the court and having to play in a doubles match. She did not want to hold back her doubles partner.

"Librarian-chan?" Rin looked towards Umi to see what she thought. Rin did not want to admit to anyone that she did not know how to play doubles.

"Sakuno-chan should be with me so I can gauge her skill level first hand. You and Momo-sempai will be the other pair."

"Hey where are you notebooks?" Rin noticed Umi had not taken any notebooks out in over an hour, a new record.

"People would know I'm gathering data if they observed me with a notebook." Umi quietly answered back. She looked around to make sure no one had heard Rin. An apparently was being chatted up by Momoshiro. Others had turned their attention back towards the game that was just finishing up.

"So who's next?" A boy with blond spiky hair called out from the court. His doubles partner, had shoulder length black hair, pulled back into a ponytail.

"Those two are from Gyokurin Chuugakkou. The blond is Izumi Tomoya and his partner is Fukawa Kimoyoshi. They are doubles partners on Gyokurin's Regular team." Umi whispered to Rin.

"Come on Sempai. I want to play a game." Rin grabbed Momoshiro's arm and dragged him away from his conversation with An.

"Hey! I was still talking to her!" Momoshiro cried out in outrage.

Rin ignored his outcries. She was anxious to see how other regular players in rival teams stacked up against Seigaku's. Of course she conveniently ignored the fact that she did not know the rules to doubles, but in her mind tennis is tennis.

"Eh, we have a little boy with a Seigaku Regular? Are you training him?" Izumi asked the pair entering the court. Rin had a tick mark above her head for being called little. She was used to being mistaken as a boy, but she did not like it when people made fun of her height. Umi was already forcing her to drink a lot of milk to increase her height.

"Ahahaha. Echizen-chan, they think you're a boy." Momoshiro started to laugh so hard he fell over. The two players from Gyokurin looked at Rin more carefully. Rin readjusted her cap. She was starting to get impatient.

"Onna?" The two looked even harder, focusing on her chest.

"Hentai!" They were both hit in the face with tennis balls coming from Rin. It was an automatic reaction that her mother had drilled into her in the presence of hentai other than her father.

"I guess that is a girl with that reaction." Fukawa said after getting over being hit with a ball. Seeing Rin's angry expression, helped solidify that Rin was a girl.

"Which?" Momoshiro chose smooth. Unfortunately, the racqet landed with Fukawa's initials upside down. The Gyokurin pair gets to serve for this game.

Izumi sent the first serve towards the back right corner, which Momoshiro was able to return. The ball was sent back and forth between the pairs. The first point of this service play went to Momoshiro-Rin pair.

"You see it don't you? They have a lot of holes. They're a new doubles pairing," Fukawa said to Izumi as they prepared to serve. Izumi nodded in agreement.

"We'll beat them easily. We just have to aim for the middle." Izumi then proceeded to serve the ball directly in the middle of the opposite court.

Momoshiro and Rin both ran towards the ball. They immediately stopped when they saw the other heading towards the ball. This caused the ball to pass between the two, allowing the Fukawa-Izumi pair to score. Rin looked balefully at Momoshiro for making them lose a point.

"I could of gotten that if you hadn't been in the way Sempai."

"In circumstances like this, the person with the forehand hits the ball." Momoshiro retorted back.

**"Just like I thought,"** Izumi thought, as he prepared his next serve.

He hit is towards the far right of the court, past the normal singles' boundary line, but within the doubles' boundary line. Momoshiro started to run for the ball, but saw he would never be able to reach it. He called out for Rin to get the ball, but she was even further away than Momoshiro.

"You were supposed to get that," said Momoshiro.

"But you were the one already running for it," Rin said. "I've never played doubles before. I thought it was out." Rin pointed towards the singles' line the ball went past.

"What! You've never played doubles before?" Momoshiro yelled.

"Hmm... fascinating. I had thought Rin-chan had at least some doubles experience with her skills," Umi was itching to take out her notebook on Rin to write down this information. However, she remembered that she could not draw attention to her data collecting.

The Momoshiro-Rin pair kept getting messed up by their inability to work together. The more experienced pairing kept sending balls in areas that the two fought over who would return them. The game ended rather quickly with Momoshiro and Rin leaving defeated.

"I didn't get to do anything. If this had been singles, I would have easily beaten the two." Momoshiro grumbled.

Spectators congratulated the winning pair, as Rin and Momoshiro exited the court.

"Wow, Izumi, Fukawa, you guys beat a Seigaku Regular."

"It's expected of Gyokurin's number one doubles pair."

"Even though they were good. They can't play doubles at all." Fukawa said jokingly.

"Yeah, don't compare our doubles play with them. They could never beat us at doubles. So who's next?" Izumi asked.

Umi was walking towards the court, but noticed Sakuno was not following her.

"Ano... Umi-chan I don't want to play anymore." Sakuno had lost more of her confidence after seeing Momoshiro and Rin lose. If those two players could beat them, what chance did she have?

"We came here to get a baseline for your skill level. It doesn't matter if we win or lose here, Sakuno-chan." Umi was trying to keep Sakuno from backing out of the game.

"Hey are you little girls scared? We'll make sure to go easier on you than your friends. Or is Seigaku full of losers." Izumi taunted the Seigaku group.

"L...L...Let's just go." Sakuno felt bad about giving Seigaku a bad reputation, but she really did not want to confirm to everyone how bad her tennis is.

"No way. You need to show them what you're made of Ryuzaki-chan." Momoshiro was pushing Sakuno towards the court, as she looked ready to flee.

"Momo-sempai. Don't force her. I wouldn't get accurate data now." Umi was already leaving the court.

"Heh, look at the cowards run away," a spectator said to the group.

"You can't leave now Librarian-chan." Rin had been called many things by her opponents over the years, but she had never been called a coward. If Sakuno did not want to play, then Rin was willing to team up with Umi to play against the two. She was pretty sure that Umi had gathered enough data on her to be a better doubles partner than Momoshiro.

"It's fine Rin-chan. I have all the information that I need." Umi's glasses glinted in the light. Rin knew that look. It meant Umi knew something, or had a plan. Rin still did not want to leave, but knew that if Umi had a plan, it was better to be in on it.

"Ok, Librarian-chan. Come on Sakuno-chan, Momo-sempai." Rin caught up with Umi. Seeing the other two leave, Sakuno immediately sprinted after the two leaving Momoshiro behind.

Momoshiro sputtered. He could not believe the girls had not risen up to the challenge the Gyokurin pair had issued. But since he had no one else to team up with to face them, he left as well.

- Line Break -

"So why did we leave Librarian-chan?" Rin looked at Umi, waiting to hear her reasoning.

"I did not want Sakuno-chan to lose confidence in her tennis skill." Umi was furiously writing information down in a purple notebook.

"You did not have to do that Umi-chan. I'm sure you and Rin could have beaten them." Sakuno felt bad about being the reason they had left.

"Don't worry about it Sakuno-chan. It was only the secondary reason as to why we left. The primary reason we needed to leave was so I could teach Rin and Momoshiro how to play doubles." Umi had switched to a red notebook now.

"Eh... teach us to play doubles?" Momoshiro did not know if he liked where this conversation was going.

"Hai. We play against them on Sunday. You guys want to show them that you can beat them in doubles, neh?" Umi glasses glinted.

"Heh, I guess you know us too well." Rin was actually glad that they were not really running away. She had never lost a game in tennis against someone so close to her age. Of course she always lost to her father, but his tennis skills far exceeding her peer's skill level. Even though the match had been doubles, losing did not sit well with her. She had come to Japan to prove that she had what it takes to be a great tennis player. Learning to play doubles was just one more thing she needed to do to before she was ready to face her father and beat him.

"We'll meet after classes tomorrow. We don't have afternoon practice, so I have half a day to get you guys ready."

"We can use the court at my house." Rin had not wanted the others to know about her private court, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"You have tennis court at your house, Rin-chan?" asked Sakuno.

"Hai. We can practice there."

"Ok, then. I'm pretty sure you two don't want the others to know about this loss and training. So Sakuno-chan, you, Tomoka-chan, and I are going to say we are having a sleepover at Rin-chan's house tommorow night. Our reason is that we wanted to make sure she got to the District tournament on time. After all, you've been late to 15% of our morning practices, Rin-chan. Momo-sempai is just walking us home."

Rin looked annoyed that Umi had called out her tardiness. Umi knew Rin was not a morning person, so it was difficult for Rin to get to morning practice. However, Rin would rather have the tennis club think that the girls were staying over to wake her up, rather than have them find out about her absymal doubles play.

"Then we are all in agreement. Be ready to train hard." Umi left to go make a crash training menu for the duo. Rin was not sure how well the training would end up. She was able to hear Umi mumble the word "juice" as the girl left.

- Line Break -

"I can't believe you guys were beaten. You are some of Seigaku's strongest players!" Tomoka had been informed of the plans over the phone the previous night. The group had arrived at Rin's house to see her dirt court. Tomoka had not been able to say anything at school for fear that others may overhear. But now that she was away from prying ears, she could state her opinion on the matter.

"You don't have to remind us Tomoka-chan." Rin was still upset about the loss.

"We'll be fixing that problem now." Umi pulled out a bungee cord with Velcro straps on the ends.

"What is that?" Momoshiro was starting to feel uneasy about having Umi train them. He was thinking a book might have been a better idea.

"This is something I used to help myself train my leg muscles and balance for when I do leg extensions (1). The straps are wrapped around my ankles. The tension from the cord when I pull my leg up builds muscle strength faster, and forces me to have better balance. But you guys are going to use this to help synchronize your movements." Umi attached one end to Rin's right leg and the other end to Momoshiro's left leg.

"This will make you two coordinate your movements. Sakuno-chan and I will be playing doubles against you. Tomoka-chan will rotate with Sakuno-chan and I when one of us gets tired. You two will continue to play until I deem your doubles play acceptable. As added motivation, I obtained some Inui Special Vegetable Juice from my Oni-chan under the pretense of forming a counter for it. Every time you guys lose a game, you both get a shot of juice." The aura around Umi became sinister.

Momoshiro and Rin started sweating. They knew they would not get out of this training unscathed.

Omake: Shopping Blitz

A few of the shops the girls went to on their shopping trip in Chapter 12.

Shop #12:

"Librarian-chan, explain to me again why we came into this shop." Rin said to Umi.

"Ah... Tomoka-chan spotted something she always wanted to try on."

"Ok… But why do we have to wear these things too?"

Rin gestured to herself. She was wearing a faux metal armor dress, with multiple fake swords strapped to her back and waist. Tomoka had dragged the group into a cosplay store after seeing a costume she had always wanted to try on. Rin had even been made to put on a red wig to complete the look. Rin was kind of annoyed that she was put into a dress, but at least the costume was kind of cool with all the swords.

"Tomoka-chan wanted us to join her in the experience."

Umi readjusted her glasses. Tomoka had made Umi wear a black kimono that all shinigami wear in Bleach. On her arm was the fuku-taicho symbol for the Eighth Division. Her hair had even been put up. Her glasses actually made the costume appear more authentic.

"Are we even recognizable characters?"

Rin was not up to date in different manga/anime. She had spent more time honing her tennis skills, rather than downloading anime to watch when she lived in America.

"You are supposed to be Erza from Fairy Tail. I'm supposed to be Ise Nanao from Bleach."

"I did not think you were into this kind of thing Librarian-chan." Rin sweat dropped. She had meant to be rhetorical when she had said her last question.

"I'm not, but I have to be informed thanks to my dance studio's eccentricities. Sensei and sempai-tachi are otakus for several different anime and manga series, so our costumes and dance routines reflect that. Last year we had to do a break dance/tutting (2) routine as the cast from Naruto. I try to make sure I'm up to date, so I don't end up wearing a costume from a hentai, ecchi, or mature series. Sensei sometimes forgets about that when she agrees to something. We almost got stuck with a Michael Jackson Thriller routine dressed as the characters from High School of the Dead and zombies. Most of the parents wouldn't have approved of the skimpy outfits or the gore."

Rin was not sure if Umi was being serious, or if the explanation was a joke. It was hard to tell without being able to see Umi's eyes. But then again, her father was a prime example of an adult that had the maturity level of a five-year-old. Rin assumed that Umi's dance instructor must be the same way.

Tomoka decided to come out of the changing room before Rin could ask any more questions. She was wearing a frilly white dress with gold embroidery to accent the bust line. On her forehead was an upturned gold crescent moon. The look was finished with a blond wig styled into two buns, with trailing ponytails. Tomoka was holding a pink wand for added effect.

"You made us come in here, so you could dress up as Sailor Moon in princess form?" Rin asked as her left eyebrow twitched.

"Of course, every girl wants to be a princess at least once in her life. Didn't you ever want to Rin-chan?" Tomoka was twirling in front of a full-length mirror.

Rin had been three when she went through her princess phase. Her mother still kept the photos for blackmail purposes. She had thought most girls grew out of the idea by the time they were ten. Apparently Tomoka was still in her phase.

"Where's Sakuno-chan?" Umi asked.

"Ah, Sakuno-chan come out already. I picked that outfit because you need to be brave like that character."

"I…I don't want to…" a small voice could be heard from the changing room.

Tomoka charged into the changing room. A reluctant Sakuno was dragged out. Tomoka had made Sakuno wear a short, tight, blue shirt with khaki short shorts held up with suspenders. Her hair had been changed from two braids into one long braid. On her hips was a pair of fake guns with holsters.

"You made her into Laura Croft from Tomb Raider." Rin put her left hand to her forehead unable to believe Tomoka's costume choice for Sakuno.

"Hai, I thought it was a good one because she did not have to wear a wig. Besides you look good in it Sakuno-chan." Tomoka was still holding a struggling Sakuno.

"I'm changing." Sakuno broke Tomoka's hold on her, and quickly made her way back to change.

"Moi… I thought it was a good choice." Tomoka was pouting at the girls' lack of enthusiasm for trying on the costumes.

Store # 27:

The three girls could only sweat drop at the scene in front of them. Rin was being chased by a pack of dogs that had gotten lose from their owners, while the group was looking inside a pet shop. She was using all of her tennis skills to avoid the dogs.

"Why are they only chasing Rin-chan?" Sakuno wondered out loud.

"I believe the dogs smelled her cat's scent on her, causing them to chase her." Umi theorized.

"What do we do about it?" Tomoka asked, as Rin did an impressive vault over a toy display that got knocked down by her canine pursuers.

"I've got an idea. Get outside."

Umi ushered the other two out. She took a hold the door from outside, and waited for Rin to make her way closer to the exit.

"Rin-chan! Outside now!" Umi ordered Rin.

Rin quickly made a beeline to the door. As she exited the store, Umi slammed the door shut, and braced it with her body. Several thuds were heard from behind the door. Shouting from the clerks and dogs' owners could be heard afterwards.

"No more pet stores."

Everyone readily agreed.

Store #35:

"Out! Out! And stay out!"

The girls quickly fled a cooking supply store. Sakuno had wanted to get cake-decorating tips for a batch of cakes she needed to prepare for Cooking Club. The quartet had wandered around the store looking for the cake section, when the owner spotted Umi. He immediately turned red with anger, and chased the girls out of the store, yelling out profanities.

"What the hell was that about Librarian-chan?"

"Ah… well I was rather clumsy as a child." Umi scratched the back of her head looking rather sheepish about the incident and what she was about to admit to the other girls.

"I accidentally tripped while I was in that store when I was five. Six display cases fell over and I was given a lifetime ban from ever entering that store. It was actually what forced Okaasan to sign me up for dance classes. I thought the owner wouldn't recognize me after so many years. He's got an amazing ability for facial recognition…" Umi continued to mumble on about the storeowner's uncanny ability to recognize her.

"Why am I not surprised," Tomoka deadpanned. The others could only nod.

Omake End

Explanations

*1) Leg Extensions: Term refering to extending the dancer's leg up to the front, side, or back. Dancers normally want to have their leg as high as possible, so they practice holding their leg out for as long as possible.

*2) Tutting: A modern street dance style that is modeled after Egyptian hieroglyphics. Tutting normal involves intricate body movements to form geometric shapes piece by piece and then disassembling the shapes in the same piecemeal fashion. AN: I think it would be so awesome for a tutter to do Naruto hand seals to show off amazing finger tutting skills.

AN: Remember, I update my profile every few days to let you know how much I've written of the next chapter. I also update my profile with announcements of delays. I will be gone for most of the first half of July, so I will try to get the first part of Districts posted before I go on vacation. If I don't, then I will make it an extra long chapter to include the first few matches with Fudomine.


	15. Chapter 14: Doubles for Dummies

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: I'm back from my vacation, although now I need a vacation from my family. Anyways, I want to thank everyone who has added my story to his or her favorite lists, or for alerts. The number of people doubled, since my last update. I did not think my story would be so popular, since I'm following the original story line quite a bit. Also thank you for your patience for the longer than usual wait. I know I promised a long chapter, but I didn't want to keep you all waiting. I had trouble deciding what I wanted to do with the Gyokurin doubles match. I finally settled on this. Hope you guys are ok with it.

"Speech in Japanese"

"**Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"**_Thoughts in English"_**

Chapter 14: Doubles for Dummies

"I think you broke them, Umi-chan." Tomoka stated, as the group finished Umi's crash course in doubles.

"Will they be able to play tomorrow?" asked Sakuno.

Sakuno and Tomoka were resting on a bench, completely worn out by the non-stop tennis. The group had been practicing for a while now, with few breaks. The sun had long since set. Lying on the ground, Momoshiro and Rin could be seen passed out. Their legs were still attached by the bungee cord. A few discarded paper cups surrounded the two. Green ooze was slowly seeping out of one of the cups.

"They'll be fine."

Umi was just as tired as the rest of the group, but still found the energy to scribble some last notes into her red notebook. She closed it with a loud snap, causing the two fallen players to stir a bit.

"I'm sure all they need is a bit more juice to wake them up."

A sinister aura surrounded Umi. The two fallen players immediately sprang back to life simultaneously, after hearing Umi's plan to wake them up. They then quickly fled to the safety of the house. Umi noted that the two were in step as they ran away.

"See they are still perfectly fit to play tennis. Also their ability to play doubles has increased by at least 30%. They would never have been that synchronized before this practice."

Umi was beaming with happiness over how much her training menu had improved the two players' doubles skills in such a short time. The two other girls did not want to point out that everyone would run away in unison from the threat of Inui juice. Tomorrow would show how well Umi's training session paid off.

- Line Break -

"They're here. The first seeded team."

"Kyaaa! It's Tezuka-kun!"

"They've got a chibi in a Regular's uniform."

"Yeah I saw that. Is that a first year?"

"Wahhh! Fuji-sama, I love you! Please go out with me!"

Tezuka was slightly annoyed by that last comment, but did not want to show any reaction to it. If he did, Fuji would never stop teasing him. Some of their competition had already noticed Rin and were sizing her up. A headache was starting to form. He really wanted to take his glasses off to pinch the bridge of his nose, but Fuji would notice. He tried his best to ignore the other tennis teams and the squealing fans, as he handed in the play roster.

"Saa... it's rather noisy. Neh, Tezuka-kun?" Fuji playful asked. She knew he had heard the random guy's confession to her. It always amused her, seeing his reactions.

"Ah. Yudan sezu ni ikou."

Tezuka tried to look indifferent, as Fuji opened her eyes to look at him more closely. They had known each other for too long for it to fool her, but she decided to let him off the hook for now.

*Chuckle* "Of course Tezuka-kun." Fuji smiled at Tezuka. He turned away to check on the other Regulars. She closed her eyes now that his attention was away from her. She decided to check on her first year kohai, since this is their first time at an official tennis tournament.

Rin was wearing the boy's Regular uniform top with black shorts, and her Fila white cap. Her freshmen friends were currently giving her encouragement for the upcoming match. Fuji noticed that Rin was paler than normal, and hoped she was not too nervous about the upcoming matches. Umi said something to Rin, while shaking a water bottle in front of her. Rin immediately turned paler and retreated towards Momoshiro in a panicked state. Fuji chuckled to herself. She set her concern for her kohai to the back of her mind.

Across from the Seigaku regulars, members of Gyokurin Chuugakkou were checking out their competition.

"Hey, Izumi isn't that the runty tomboy that we played against the other day?" Fukawa pointed towards Rin.

Izumi looked at the Seigaku Regulars more carefully. He had not noticed the girl thanks to her much taller sempai blocking his view. The height seemed to match and the kid was wearing the same hat. He was just having a hard time believing a first year girl had made it onto Seigaku's Regular team.

"Yeah, I think that's her. I didn't know she was a Regular too. This should be interesting since we play Seigaku next." Izumi responded. Fukawa nodded in agreement.

- Line Break -

"Eh! Tezuka-buchou isn't going to play against Gyokurin? Plus Momo-sempai and Echizen are going to play doubles?" Horio asked the assembled Seigaku tennis members. They were gathered around the sidelines, ready to cheer for Seigaku. A few were holding the signs the girls had made earlier.

"Hai, it's what Ryuzaki-sensei submitted for our matches against Gyokurin. The two of them wanted to play doubles," Inui explained, as he leaned forward on the fence surrounding the court.

"Is that a wise decision?" Katsuo asked.

A chorus of no's and other negative responses answered Katsuo's question.

"Do you think that I made the right choice, Tezuka-kun?" Ryuzaki asked Tezuka. The two were sitting on the bench waiting for the matches to begin.

"No."

His response was not reassuring. Ryuzaki just had to believe in her students and their ability to work together. Who was she kidding; they were going to be an embarrassment.

"Because Seigaku was given a bye from the matches so far, they must play all 5 rounds against Gyokurin even if a winner has already been decided. Doubles 2, Momoshiro-Echizen vs. Izumi-Fukawa will begin," announced the judge from his seat above the court.

"You guys are playing doubles against us. You've only had like what 1-2 days to practice? There's no way you can beat us in doubles with that amount of time. You would more likely beat us in a singles match." Fukawa stated.

"Heh, we're quick studies and had a lot of incentive to learn. We wanted to beat you guys in doubles after losing before." Momoshiro said to his opponents. He was looking a little pale like Rin, but the two of them appeared to be ready to play.

"So that's why you want to play doubles. We'll see how well you do." Izumi replied back.

The first service play went to the Izumi-Fukawa pair.

**"This will be easy. I'll just serve it down the middle like last time."**

Izumi readied his serve and sent the ball flying down the middle of the court. However, instead of the seeing his opponents fight over control of the ball, Momoshiro was the one to run after the ball and return it. People could see that Rin had started to move towards the ball, but stopped after taking two steps. Fukawa sent the ball back towards the middle to see if it was just a fluke. There was no way that their opponents had learned to play doubles

This time Rin hit the ball with a backhanded return, scoring the first point. The Gyokurin pair kept trying to send the ball towards the middle of the court, but Rin and Momoshiro kept alternating who would send the ball back. The first game ended with a win for the Seigaku pairing.

"1-0, Seigaku service play."

"What kind of doubles play is this?" Izumi asked angrily. His opponents were purposely alternating who would return the ball whenever it landed mid-court. It did not matter who had the forehand return for the ball, the next person in the sequence would be the one to return the ball.

"No clue, but we can't lose to their tactics." Fukawa answered back.

Over in the stands, the spectators were just as confused by the two's strategy.

"Inui-sempai, why are they playing doubles like this?" Kachiro asked.

"Yeah they are purposely switching between each other to go after the ball." Horio commented.

"Ah, I don't know, but it seems to be working." Inui did not want to say he suspected that his sister had a hand in this strategy.

- Flashback -

"Since you two are too stubborn and we don't have enough time to drill the correct doubles strategies, we will need to improvise. Which?"

Umi spun a racquet in front of the Rin and Momoshiro. The two looked at each other in confusion, before Momoshiro called out smooth. The racquet landed with the letter right side up.

"Alright, this means when you two receive the first mid-court ball, Momo-sempai will return it. The next mid-court ball, Rin-chan will be the one to return it. You will continue to switch off who receives the mid-court balls." Umi explained to the newly formed doubles.

"Ah, shouldn't the person with the forehand hit the ball?" Momoshiro asked.

"Rin-chan won't remember that, so this is the easiest solution that both of you will be able to remember."

Everyone sweat dropped at Umi's blunt answer. None could argue against such a true statement, much to Rin's annoyance. This was the end of the discussion, as Umi started to send balls down the middle of the court for them to practice on.

- End Flashback -

It was Seigaku's service play now. Rin was the one to serve. She decided to let some pent up aggression show. Her serve was a fast slice that quickly passed the Gyokurin pair resulting in a service ace.

"15-0"

"How does she have such a fast serve?" Fukawa choked out.

The rest of the game was a set of service aces sent by Rin. She was still annoyed that these two players had beaten her before and called them cowards. No one besides her damn Oyaji beat her in tennis. This would teach them not to mess with Seigaku.

"2-0, Seigaku in the lead."

"We can't let them get to us Fukawa. Now's the time to show them real doubles play," said Izumi.

This time Fukawa sent his first serve towards the right back corner. Momoshiro quickly ran for the ball, while Rin ran to the left frontcourt. This surprised Fukawa. He had expected both players to run for the ball. A rally started between the pairs. The Gyokurin kept trying to get the Seigaku pair to fight for control of the ball, which would allow for an opening in their defenses. So far it looked like the two players were moving up and down the court, but never sideways. The two would always be within a certain distance from the other and diagonally opposite of the other.

- Flashback -

"The cord isn't meant to hamper your movements. It is to help you know where your partner is at all times. You both fight for control of the ball. This causes openings to occur, which your opponents exploit."

Umi drew a diagram in the dirt using a stick. The group was taking a small break after Rin and Momoshiro had to wash out their mouths with water. The diagram showed a rough estimation of a court. An R and M represented the two players. R was in the left backcourt, while M was in the right frontcourt.

"If you both run for a ball sent here, you open up this side of the court for them to score."

Umi marked the right back corner of the diagram with an X. Then she drew arrows from R and M towards the X. She circled the entire left court to highlight the opening.

"So to prevent making openings, you need to keep the cord taut, but not stretched. If the cord goes slack, that means you are leaving a gap in your defenses. If you stretch the cord too much, it means you are leaving the mid-court defenseless."

"Ano… Umi-chan it looks like you are making them play a singles match using only half the court." Sakuno had been carefully looking at the diagram and had noticed a pattern if the two kept the cord taut. Rin and Momoshiro were still getting over their experience with Inui juice to notice.

"Yes and no. They will be sticking to one side of the court, but they will be adjusting to the other's movements. If one moves back, one will have to move forward to keep the cord from stretching or becoming loose." Umi told the group.

"Do you think there's enough time for them to be able to do this? They won't be able to play connected to each other in the real match." Tomoka asked.

The group only had a few more hours to practice. Would it be enough to get them to work together?

"Well even lab rats learn not to eat the electrified cheese. I'm sure they will remember not to cause any openings. If they do, during this practice or during the match, they get to have some more of Oni-chan's juice." Umi held up the large container holding the remaining juice.

The pairing quickly learned to keep the bungee cord perfectly taut.

- End Flashback -

**"Must keep the cord taut. I can't drink that stuff anymore."**

**_"No more juice. Can't have openings. No more juice."_**

These were thoughts going through Momoshiro and Rin's minds as they continued to play. Rin was helpfully reminded by Umi what the consequences of dropping their defenses would be before the match. The two of them were determined not to relive last night's horrors.

Their determination not to drink anymore Inui juice, coupled with their desire to win, lead the two to victory over Gyokurin.

"6-0. Seigaku wins."

The pairs met at the net and shook hands.

"You guys can play against us any time on the street courts, but next time we'll teach you how to play doubles." Izumi said to Momoshiro.

"Mada mada dane." Rin said to the two defeated players with a playful smirk. The Gyokurin pair colored with anger.

"Echizen, don't be rude to sempai. Gomen, Echizen does not know when to shut up." Momoshiro scolded Rin, as he apologized profusely for his kohai's behavior.

Ryuzaki called the pair over before more could be said. She immediately bonked the two in the head.

"What kind of doubles play was that? You guys stuck to one side the court as if you were playing singles with half courts. Don't even get me started on your mid-court ball strategy." Ryuzaki continued to lecture the pair, much to the amusement of all who were watching.

"Umi-chan, you are going to teach them to play doubles properly if you want to be a Regular!" Ryuzaki turned her annoyance towards the person she knew had a hand in their doubles strategy.

"NOOOOOO!" Momoshiro and Rin cried out in unison.

The two immediately begged not to be doubles partners ever again. Anything as long as Umi was not assigned to teach them doubles. Ryuzaki eventually agreed not to pair them together in doubles again. In return, the two would switch off being alternates for the rest of the tournament. They gladly accepted this arrangement.

Seigaku eventually earned a straight set of wins against Gyokurin. This momentum would stay with them until the finals.

Omake Outtake: Mystery Drink #10

Many have been wondering for a while now, but no one had the courage to ask. The Ichinen trio, Rin, Tomoka, and Sakuno drew straws to see who would be the one to pose the question. Horio ended up with the shortest straw, much to his displeasure. He did not even understand why it was so important.

"Eto… Umi-chan?"

"Hai, is there something you need, Horio-san?" Umi was writing in one of her ever-present notebooks.

"…"

Horio looked towards the others, unsure how he should proceed.

"There is a 95% chance that the question you wanted to ask was where do I keep all my data notebooks, neh?"

The individuals in the group just nodded his or her head. It had been quite a mystery to the club, as to how Umi switched notebooks instantaneously when she was nowhere near her bag. They waited with bated breath to find out.

"Well it happened a few years ago, having to do with Mystery Drink #10. I had incorrectly listed an ingredient in it and was forced to drink it. Apparently Mystery Drink #10 granted subspace dimensional warping powers. It allowed me to create subspace pockets of infinite capacity. Unfortunately, we were never able to duplicate the results. After some experimentation, Oni-chan and I happily determined that I wasn't going to create a dimensional rift, jump dimensions, or destroy the universe. We couldn't figure out what to do with this ability. In the end, we found it useful for storage space."

"Wait a minute. Inui-sempai created a drink that lets you warp our dimension, and all you do is use your powers for notebook storage?" Tomoka yelled at Umi.

"Well if I used it for anything else, the secret government agency regulating dimensional tears would be angry." Umi said with a matter of fact tone.

"S-s-secret g-government agency?" Sakuno asked hesitantly.

"Hai, they should be arriving soon to wipe this conversation from your memory." Umi returned to her notebook.

"Haha, that's a good one Librarian-chan. You almost had us believing that Inui-sempai's drinks could grant super powers."

Rin started to have a good laugh. The others joined in too, until men in black suits and sunglasses appeared. A flash of light later, the group was discussing about how they believe the District Tournament would go for Seigaku.

End Omake Outtake

AN: Yes I know, my omake outtake was completely random. It has nothing to do with the cannon of my story, but I wanted to give you guys something for the long wait. Plus I've been seeing too much Men in Black movies while flipping the channels. Most of my omakes aren't cannon just in case some of you haven't figured it out. Please read and review. I'll have the next chapter up soon.


	16. Chapter 15: Battle for Districts

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: Thanks to the few who reviewed my last chapter. I hope you guys didn't think it was too short or lacking in terms of tennis action. Like I said in the beginning of this story update times would vary, but I will try to update at least once a month no matter how long or short the chapter is. I had thought of something great for a later chapter, so this took longer than I had wanted. I'm sure most of you will get the foreshadowing. Thanks and enjoy the chapter.

"Speech in Japanese"

**"Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"**_Thoughts in English"_**

Chapter 15: Battle for Districts

Tezuka and Fuji were silently observing some of their competition. Seigaku was currently on a lunch break before their semi-finals match of the District Tournament. Right now, they were watching the second ranked team, Kakinoki, led by their female captain Kuki Keiko. Kuki was a rather pretty girl with long brown hair put up in a ponytail. From their vantage point, the two Seigaku players could see that Kuki was using her looks to her full advantage to distract her male opponent. A little flash of more leg than necessary. Bending a tad further down to show her male opponent a nice view of her cleavage, which was more generous than most girls her age. Her actual tennis play was a little above the average tennis player, but nowhere near what was expected for a captain level player to have. Still, the game ended with a win for Kakinoki and advancement to the semi-finals against Fudomine.

Kuki had noticed the pair had been watching her game the entire time. How could she not? The two players were drawing more attention to themselves by their mere presence than her match. Her risqué tennis style did not seem to do much to draw the attention back to her. Also seeing many of her admirers from Kakinoki fawning over Fuji just angered her more. The pair started to walk away from the court. Kuki quickly accepted her team's win and ran over to the two. There was something she needed to find out about Tezuka.

"Tezuka-kun! It's been so long. Did you come to see my match? I've missed you, ever since I transferred from Seigaku to Kakinoki," as Kuki said these things, she latched onto Tezuka's left arm at his elbow. She purposely ignored the blank stare Tezuka gave her.

**"Damn he did not even react when I grabbed his arm. It should still be injured."**Kuki thought.

"Just because I like you Tezuka-kun, don't think I will go easy on you. Kakinoki will definitely win." She purposely angled herself against his arm to press her assets up against him to try to get a reaction from him. She got something else instead.

"No greetings for me too, Kuki-chan? I'm hurt," said Fuji with a coy smile.

Kuki glared back in response. The glare only made Fuji's smile turn into a smirk. She always did like making Kuki angry. Especially after what she had done in the early part of their second year at Seigaku together before she had to transfer.

"Oh, I didn't see you there Fuji-chan," Kuki ground out. Oh how she loathed that smiling tensai. She would make her pay in the finals. Kuki tightened her hold onto Tezuka's arm; even though he had tried to shake her off a few times. He still did not appear to be in pain, which annoyed Kuki even more.

"You know I was just thinking about you awhile ago. I was looking through some old photos that I had, when I came across some of my earlier work." Fuji's eyes opened to fully look at Kuki, as if she was a bug that needed to be squashed.

This caused Kuki to freeze. She had forgotten how unnerving Fuji's eyes could be. The mention of THOSE photos was a clear message for Kuki to back off.

**"You win this time Fuji."**

**"You can never beat me Kuki."**

Kuki let go of Tezuka's arm in a huff. The two left without another word, leaving a fuming Kuki behind.

- Line Break -

"Eh! What do you mean we aren't going up against Kakinoki?" Horio shouted out what most had been thinking.

Seigaku had just finished their semi-final match. The entire club was currently waiting together for the finals to begin next to the announcement board.

"I just came from their matches. They were easily defeated by Fudomine." Umi readjusted her glasses.

Inui had tasked her with the duty of gathering data on Kakinoki for the finals. Instead, she saw what could only be described as a slaughter. The Kakinoki players lost every game with a score of 0-6. The combined data from the Inui siblings had not predicted this kind of upset. It was expected by all in attendance to the District Tournament that the finalists would be Seigaku and Kakinoki, not some dark horse like Fudomine.

"Wasn't that the school that was banned last year due to violence and not wanting to conform to the mixed tennis teams?" Kawamura asked out loud.

"Hai. Their coach was fired last year, and the original team disbanded or graduated. Fudomine's current team is made up of new members consisting of mostly second years with only one third year who is acting as the coach/captain." Inui explained.

"Doesn't matter who they are, we're sure to beat them!" Horio confidently shouted for all to hear.

"Ano... Horio..." Katsuo pointed behind Horio.

Afraid of what he might find, Horio slowly turned around to see several figures scowling at his last statement. Standing directly behind Horio was a group of eight. The six boys were dressed in all black uniforms with white trim. The two girls were wearing the same black jersey, but with white tennis skirts with black shorts underneath. One of the boys with short cropped brown hair moved towards Tezuka.

"I'm Tachibana Kippei. It is nice to finally meet you Tezuka-san. Let's have a good match." Tachibana stuck his hand out towards Tezuka.

"Hai." Tezuka nodded in agreement and took the offered hand. The Fudomine group then started to walk away.

"Hey, check out what one of their female players is doing." Horio pointed out to the other freshmen nearby. The freshmen turned to see a girl with straight, black, shoulder length hair casually hitting a tennis ball on the rim of her racquet as she walked by.

"You should see Rin-chan then." Umi pointed out to the group.

They turned back to see Rin drinking a can of grape Ponta. In her right hand, she was bouncing a tennis ball on the rim of the racquet just like the other girl. The Fudomine players noticed as well. They stopped to look at Rin.

"She must be getting antsy since Ryuzaki-sensei benched her for the last two games," said Kachiro.

The other girl from the Fudomine team approached the freshmen group. The rest of the Fudomine group waited off to the side for their member.

"Hi, it's nice seeing you all again. I didn't know you were a Seigaku Regular too," as she addressed Rin.

Rin stopped what she was doing to look at the newcomer

"Who are you?"

"Rin-chan, that's the girl who was at the street courts the other day," Sakuno explained.

Rin cocked her head to the side trying to recall the girl. She finally remembered her, but not the name.

"Ah, the one Momo-sempai was flirting with." Now that the mystery was solved she went back to drinking her Ponta.

"What is he talking about An-chan?" one of the male Fudomine players with red hair that had his bangs covering his left eye joined the group. "What's this about you going to the street courts without us and getting hit on."

"Oh, it's no big deal Kamio-kun. But you should apologize to Echizen-san. She's a girl. Plus that guy was kind of cute."

The now identified Kamio Akira's face turned as red as his hair with embarrassment. He had not realized Rin was a girl.

**"If that's a girl, why the hell is she wearing the boy's uniform?"** Kamio thought.

"Lucky~ a pretty girl thinks I'm cute." Momoshiro took this opportunity to join the conversation.

"What the hell are you talking about An-chan? This guy looks like a punk," said Kamio, forgetting about his early mistake about Rin's gender.

"What does that make you?" Momoshiro shouted back. The two began to insult each other as their teams watched.

"Momoshiro! 10 laps!"

"Urk, we'll continue this later." Momoshiro mumbled. He quickly took off so Tezuka would not issue more laps.

"Hah, that's right run away!" Kamio shouted towards Momoshiro's retreating back.

"Kamio! Why don't you join him?" Tachibana had said it in a way that Kamio knew it was not meant to be a question.

"H-hai, Tachibana-san." Kamio followed after Momoshiro.

"Just meet up with us later An-chan." Tachibana and the rest of Fudomine left before they caused another scene.

"Gomen for causing you guys trouble. I just wanted to wish you guys luck too," An bowed in apology on behalf of Kamio.

"Arigato, Tachibana-san. You too." Sakuno bowed back in return. An left the Seigaku members to go catch up with her team.

"Librarian-chan, how good are they?" Rin asked once An was out of hearing range.

"Good enough that we will have to fight for the win."

"I can't wait."

Rin shook her can to find it empty. She then threw it up in the air. Her racquet made contact with the empty can. The can flew through the air and landed inside the recycling bin situated several feet away from the group.

- Line Break -

"This is the start of the final matches for the Tokyo District XX Preliminaries, Seigaku vs. Fudomine. Doubles 2: Fuji – Kawamura vs. Ishida – Sakurai. Doubles 1..."

The teams were currently listening to the judge list out the play roster for the final matches.

"Having the Rose of Seigaku, Fuji Shuuko, play Doubles 2 was unexpected. I can't believe they aren't going to place her in Singles 2." Tachibana commented to his team, as they waited for the first match to start.

"It would have been nice to be able to play against a tensai like Fuji Shuuko. A game against her would have been good to showcase my skills. Our doubles pairs are good and Kamio will win, so I probably wouldn't have gotten to play anyways. But I really wanted to play against another girl who takes tennis seriously. That team captain from Kakinoki was a joke. Girls like that are why they separated sports in the first place. It's an insult. I should have humiliated her more. I can't believe you didn't let me hit her after she had the gall to insult Fudomine too. She needed to be punished and...," said the female player that had drawn Seigaku's attention earlier.

"Ibu-chan, you're babbling again." Tachibana pointed out to his female player. Ibu Shika was brilliant both on and off the court, but she always had a bad habit of voicing her train of thought out loud.

"Sunmason, Buchou. I guess I will have to be content with Fudomine winning without getting to play. But I really wanted to see how I would fair against Fuji. It …"

"Ibu-chan, just watch the match," Tachibana sighed out.

It was times like these that he wondered why he became Fudomine tennis team captain/coach. But looking at Shika as she continued to babble reminded him of his reasons.

- Flashback -

Tachibana Kippei had just transferred to Fudomine. He had not planned on playing tennis ever again after what had happened at Shishigaku. But old habits die hard, and he ended up in front of the Fudomine tennis courts. What he found was rather unexpected. He saw underclassmen sprawled on the ground. Several of the older tennis members towered over the fallen freshmen.

"We'll never let you play as Regulars. You're just freshmen. Plus we would never let a girl onto this team even if we get disqualified from the tournaments," said a large third year. Tachibana nicknamed him Goon #1 in his head. Unfortunately, he was not close enough to hear what Goon #1 had said. He moved in closer to find out what was going on.

"Do you think you're so great for beating up your kohai? I'm sure your mothers are so proud. I guess this is the only way you could ever beat us, since you couldn't beat us at tennis," said a defiant Shika as she tried to stand up. Shika's comments angered the upperclassmen even more.

"Shut the hell up!" another third year yelled. This one was nicknamed Goon #2.

Shika continued to ramble on about why they felt the need to beat up the freshmen. By the time she reached the part about needing to be reassured about their manhood through violence, all of the older students were angry beyond words. Tachibana had been close enough to hear Shika's insults and started to wonder about the girl's sanity.

To silence her, Goon #1 punched Shika in the stomach. This caused her to fall back to the ground and curl up in pain. Her fellow freshmen tried to get up to come to her aid, but were also knocked down by the other juniors and seniors.

"We told you to shut..." The boy was pulling his arm back to punch Shika again.

Tachibana had seen enough. Even though he did not know what the fight was about, he could tell that this was wrong. He quickly made his way in front of Goon #1, shielding Shika in the process.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Goon #1, as he lowered his arm slightly to take in the newcomer.

"As sempai, we're supposed to look out for our kohai. It looks like I need to teach you that lesson."

To punctuate his point, Tachibana swiftly punched Goon #1 in the stomach. Goon #1 was normally the one hitting others, so he was unprepared for the hit. He immediately dropped to the ground.

After seeing one of their members fall, the other upperclassmen rushed Tachibana. Shika could only make out a blurry image of a boy with shaved brown hair due to her eyes being obstructed by tears of pain before she blacked out.

- Scene Change Within Flashback -

Shika woke up later to find she was lying on a bed in the nurse's office. Her fellow freshmen were bandaged up and sitting in chairs surrounding her bed. Lying on the neighboring bed was the older boy that tried to defend them. She could see he had taken more damage than the others. His right eye was showing signs of a black eye forming. His lower lip was split and the bleeding appeared to have recently stopped. But what amazed her was the boy was awake and looking straight at her.

"I'm glad you're finally awake. I was starting to think I should have punched that guy harder if you didn't wake up soon."

"Thanks for trying to help, but you shouldn't have done that. It would have been better if you had stayed out of it. Now look at you. You're hurt more than all of us combined…"

"Shika-chan!" Kamio reprimanded her before she said anything else to insult their defender.

"Sunmason... Why did you do that?" Shika asked.

"Tennis should never be about hurting people," Tachibana's voice was hollow when he spoke those words.

A silence fell over the group. The freshmen contemplated on what Tachibana had said. There was a story behind those words, but they did not want to pry. Tachibana decided to break the silence.

"What started the fight? I had only arrived in time to hear her insulting them."

"There had been an agreement that if we could beat them in tennis that we would become the new Regulars. We did, but the Coach said no, and ordered them to 'teach us our place.' They were in the middle of their 'lesson' when you came." Kamio explained.

"You mean to tell me your coach ordered the beating?" Tachibana asked in disbelief.

"Hai," confirmed a boy with a white bandanna on his head.

"Another sensei had heard him telling them to do it, so the Headmaster has already suspended him while the school investigates. The tennis team has been disbanded until further notice," added another boy with brown hair.

"After all that and we don't even get to play at all." Kamio said in frustration. The others looked just as upset as Kamio about their inability to play tennis.

"The school can't afford to hire another tennis coach. The only way we can play now is if a sempai takes over as acting coach," said the bandanna headed boy.

All of them looked towards Tachibana. He stared back at them. He already had a sinking feeling about where this was heading.

- Scene Change in Flashback -

Tachibana sighed as he slipped the permission form under the Headmaster's door. The paper asked that a new Fudomine tennis team be formed under his guidance. The previous coach had been fired for initiating the beating. The old team was currently suspended from school for the next month. He was still unsure about this. Tachibana had made a promise to himself never to play tennis again, but he had heard about Shitenhouji's newest member in Osaka. Also looking at his kohai behind him, he knew he could not let them down. This was the only way for them to get to play. They were counting on him to take them to the Nationals.

- End Flashback -

"Will the players for Doubles 2 come to the court."

"Ohayo, I'm Fuji Shuuko. My partner here is Kawamura Takashi. Let's have a good match," Fuji introduced herself and Kawamura to their two opponents.

"Hai, it's an honor to meet you Fuji-san. I'm Sakurai Masaya and this is Ishida Tetsu." A boy with brown hair bowed towards Fuji. His doubles partner was a boy who was even taller than Kawamura's 180 cm frame, by eight cm. Ishida was wearing a white bandanna in a similar fashion to Kaidou. Both of the Fudomine players had a slight pink tinge to their cheeks from being address by THE Fuji Shuuko.

"Fudomine to serve!"

Sakurai sent a fast slice towards the Seigaku pair. Kawamura returned the shot with a powerful forehand. The ball rallied back and forth between the two sides of the court. Sakurai finally sent a volley that flew over Fuji, scoring the first point of the match.

"0-15"

"Looks like I was worried about nothing. It even seems that those two are enjoying this," said Tachibana.

"What a strong topspin," remarked Tezuka.

"This high level of tennis was unexpected," Ryuzaki commented. The match continued with Sakurai sending shots with even stronger top spins. Fudomine appeared to be in the lead.

**"This is the first match of the finals. It will set the tone for all the following matches, so I'll show no mercy!"** Fuji thought, as she readied herself for the next shot.

"Echizen, you'll want to pay close attention to this. You're going to soon see why Fuji-chan is considered Seigaku's tensai," said Tezuka. He could tell from her stance that she was going to put more effort into this match than her previous matches. Rin tipped her hat away from her eyes to get a better view of the match. She was curious to see what surprises Fuji had in store.

Fuji returned the ball with an even faster topspin. The ball flew over the net and hit the ground. Sakurai and Ishida waited for the ball to bounce back up for one of them to return the shot. To the surprise of everyone in Fudomine, the ball continued to roll along the ground and out of the court. The ball never bounced.

"What the hell kind of shot was that?" shouted Ishida at his partner.

"Hoi, hoi, check it out Ochibi-chan. That was one of Fujiko's triple counters," Kikumaru pointed out to Rin in excitement. "Tsubame Gaeshi. Fujiko must be getting serious if she brought out one of her counters."

"That counter can return my Snake even faster than you can," Kaidou added.

**_"Tensai indeed. I can't wait for a match against her."_** Rin thought.

"How did she get the ball to roll like that?" asked Tomoka.

"Tsubame Gaeshi: when her opponent sends shots with strong topspin, Fuji returns with a slice that compounds the spin. This causes the ball to spin twice as fast as the original spin. When the ball hits the ground, the strong spin causes the ball to continue to spin along the ground rather than bounce," Inui explained to those who have never seen Fuji's counters.

The match continued, but the appearance of Tsubame Gaeshi had turned the tide of the match in Seigaku's favor. The Seigaku pair was now dominating the game. Kawamura with his power shots and Fuji's precision returns.

"Sakurai, don't block my path," said Ishida. Ishida grabbed his right arm. Sakurai was shocked by the gesture. The rest of Fudomine could see the signal as well.

- Flashback -

The headmaster of Fudomine had recently agreed to allow for Tachibana to restart the tennis team. None of the old Regulars could participate due to the violence inflicted on the underclassmen. Many other students were unwilling to participate due to the bad reputation of the team. Tachibana even had to ask his sister, An, to join in order to have enough players to be a team.

Practice had just ended. Tachibana found Ishida running his right arm under the faucet to cool down his arm. Ishida had been testing out a shot that he had learned from his older brother. It was a powerful move, but Tachibana could see that there was price to it.

"I don't think anyone could return your power 120% flat shot, but it puts too much strain on your arm. If you keep this up, you won't be able to play anymore. Don't use it again," Tachibana ordered Ishida.

"Hai, I guess you're right Tachibana-san," Ishida reluctantly agreed.

- End Flashback -

Tachibana contemplated on what to do. As he watched the match, he could see that the next point was important. If Seigaku scored the next point, the score would be 5-3 in Seigaku's favor. Ishida continued to play, but constantly looked towards Tachibana for approval to use his shot.

"Buchou, Ishida is waiting for your instructions," Shika broke Tachibana of his thought. He sighed and held up his hand, signaling to Ishida to only do it this one time.

**"I guess I have no choice but to allow it."**

Ishida grinned with excitement. This would turn the match back to Fudomine's favor. He crouched down with his left leg in front of the right. His right arm was held behind him. When the ball came towards him, he lunged forward to hit the ball with an amazing amount of power.

"Hadoukyuu!" Ishida cried out. Everyone could see that this was the strongest shot sent so far in this match.

**"I can't let it through. I can't let them score this point..."**thought Fuji, as she ran to intercept Ishida's Hadoukyuu.

**"Fuji is going to try to return it! Impossible! Her arms would never be able to handle it."** thought Ishida.

"Fuji! Move!" Kawamura appeared in front of Fuji and blocked the shot with his own racquet

Using both of his arms, Kawamura sent the shot back across the court. This surprised the Fudomine team. The amount of power Ishida's Hadoukyuu should have been so great that no one had been able to withstand it until now. Ishida was not deterred. He got into the stance for another Hadoukyuu. He was determined to put even more strength into this one. There would be no way that Kawamura would have the power to counter it.

"No, Ishida! Your arm won't be able to handle another one!" Tachibana cried out to his player. Ishida ignored his captain's orders and attempted to hit another Hadoukyuu. The ball was traveling at such a high speed that it broke through the strings of Ishida's racquet, preventing him from doing another Hadoukyuu to the relief of all his teammates.

"5-3, Seigaku to serve!"

"How stubborn," sighed out Tachibana.

"At least he didn't hurt himself, Oni-chan," said An.

"No, but he hurt his racquet," Kamio joked.

"That's not the only thing that's hurt." Shika noted as she looked at the strained expression on Kawamura's face.

"Kawamura-sempai, this is the last round. Finish it with your power shots!" shouted out the Ichinen trio.

"_Leave it to me!"_he cried out to the freshmen. He turned around to find Fuji staring at him.

"Eh? What is it Fuji-chan?" Kawamura asked. Instead of saying anything, Fuji grabbed Kawamura's right wrist.

"Ow, ow, ow." Kawamura flinched in pain.

"You blocked that shot for me, Taka-san. Ref! This match... we concede!" Fuji yelled out for all to hear after she let go of Kawamura's wrist.

"No, Fuji-chan. I can still play," Kawamura argued even as his left hand cradled his right wrist. "You know how important this first match is!"

"Don't worry. It will be fine, neh?" Fuji looked towards the direction of the other Regulars sitting on the bench. Kawamura could see that they were all fired up to play.

"Hai. Gomen minna-san." Kawamura said meekly now that his racquet fell out of his hand. Inui and Umi quickly rushed to the court. Umi handed her brother the muscle spray to numb the pain.

"Taka-san you should go to the hospital in order to check if there are any bone fractures. Imouto go with him." Inui ordered. Umi nodded and quickly led Kawamura towards the nearest hospital.

Spectators could not believe that Fudomine had won the first match. This was not how they expected the match to end. Seigaku had been clearly winning until Kawamura had become injured. Now everyone was not sure if Seigaku would be able to win this tournament.

"Doubles 1: Kikumaru - Oishi vs. Mori - Uchimura."

Kikumaru jumped from his seat and grabbed his racquet. He spun his racquet around his right wrist before catching it with his right hand.

**"Looks like Eiji is going to take this match seriously. They don't stand a chance."** thought Oishi.

AN: Did I spell Shinji's catchphrase right? Please let me know. Since you guys have been patient. Check out the omake I wrote below.

Omake: Plan #35

"You're right Rin-chan, your otousan is a hentai," said Tomoka as she warily took stock of the number of magazines Rin had obtained from Nanjiro's secret stash.

Rin was currently gathering Nanjiro's magazine collection. She had been allowing him to think that he was off the hook for what had happened on her first day of practice. Nanjiro was lucky that she had gotten lunch from the three girls, or she would have decided on something that would damage him instead of his collection. Since the others were here for a sleepover, she thought it would be a great bonding experience for the group to help her get rid of Nanjiro's swimsuit magazine collection. Plus, who knew, maybe the four of them could come up with an even better idea than the ones she had thought up so far.

The other girls could only gape at the size of the collection. How could his wife let him have this many swimsuit magazines? This could not possibly be healthy for their relationship. They had already heard Rin's explanation of what she was doing. After seeing the sheer size of it all, their female pride required them to help Rin in her endeavor. Of course one person had to be the voice of reason.

"Ano… won't you get into a lot of trouble if you destroy all of these, Rin-chan?" Sakuno was beet red seeing all of the different states of undress on the covers of the magazines.

"Kaasan would probably take me out for ice cream and a shopping spree at the sports store. You guys can come with me, if you help out."

"In that case, let's do it! Sakuno-chan, our duty as women require us to help Rin-chan punish her hentai otousan." Tomoka was already thinking of the cute tennis outfit she could get at Nanjiro's expense.

"F-fine, but if anyone asks me about it, I had no part in this." Sakuno surrendered under the peer pressure. Although, secretly she thought that it would be fun to destroy all of the magazines. Also she could really use some more grip tape.

*sigh* "There is only a 1% chance I could stop you guys now from going through with this, so I might as well help." Umi pushed her glasses up as she surveyed the situation. A new weight set would be nice to get for training.

"Great, here are all the different plans I came up with so far." Rin had a crazed smile on; as she briefly listed out the different ways they could get rid of the magazines.

Umi spoke up when Rin reached Plan #35, aka Switcheroo.

"Hmm… fascinating. This can't be a coincidence. Fuji-sempai just so happened to have given me these before I left school."

Umi pulled out a small stack of magazines. On the covers of the magazines were handsome, well-toned men, all without shirts. Sakuno turned an even deeper red than before. Tomoka and Rin blushed too after seeing the covers.

"Why did Fuji-sempai give you those? And where in the world did she get those?" Tomoka cried out loud.

"Ah. The explanation she gave me was that she got them at the book store when she was with her otouto-san. She said something about always loving his reactions at the counter when they go pay for their purchases. Fuji-sempai said she did not need them and thought we might find a use for them." Umi also had a slight pink hue on her cheeks.

"Well that does make this easier, no matter how oddly coincidental that something like that would happen," Tomoka remarked.

"Who cares? Lets get to work." Rin was already picturing her father's reactions.

- Line Break -

Nanjiro was just waking up from a nice long nap. This was what he described a great day. The runt was off to some tennis tournament. His wife and niece were out shopping. He had the whole house to himself. A mischievous smile spread over his face. He knew what would make it even better.

He reached down under the mattress of his bed to pull out one of his beloved swimsuit magazines. The girl on the cover was enticing him to open it and take a look. So he randomly selected a page to open the magazine to. He looked at the page in confusion. The page contained a male model wearing a blue Speedo, as he reclined on the beach.

"**That shouldn't be in this magazine."**

A quick glance back to the cover confirmed that he had the right magazine and it did not say anything about having a feature on male swimsuits. He chose another page, thinking that the image was just part of some random ad campaign. This page contained a different male model wearing what could only be described in Nanjiro's mind as a man-kini.

Nanjiro quickly turned the pages to check them all. Each contained male models in various poses, wearing skimpy swimsuits. He threw the magazine away in a mixture of horror and disgust. The mattress was thrown aside so he could assess the damage to the rest of the collection. All of his precious magazines had males in them instead of women. The covers were all that remained unchanged.

Rinko and Nanako would later find him surrounded by half opened magazines in a fetal position rocking back and forth. They would have felt pity if they had not of seen the covers advertising their original contents. The women could only laugh at the inventiveness of Rin and her friends.

"Mada mada dane, Oyaji."

Omake End

AN: You didn't think I would have them just practice tennis during their sleepover. I think I'll actually make this omake part of the canon for my story because it's something they might actually do. Read and review. Reviewing lets me know your opinions, ideas of where you want the story to go, or criticism about my work. I don't get much feedback from you guys, so I don't know if you are starting to become bored with my story. Although I chalk up the lack of reviews because I'm not pairing Rin. Most reviews for other femRyo stories are a bombardment of requests for Yukimura, Fuji, or Atobe pairing with femRyo. I like those pairings, but they don't fit my story. This story is more about the friendships Rin makes, and the growth of the characters as they fight their way to the top. Sorry for the long monologue of an author's note. I'll try to get the next chapter out ASAP.


	17. Chapter 16: Determined to Win

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

"Speech in Japanese"

**"Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

AN: Sorry about the long wait. My coworker went to China and brought back the flu as a souvenir. My office basically showed off how true the movie Contagion could be because all of us near her got it too. It did not help that the virus mutated, and started re-infecting some of us. Plus my mother broke her arm. Yadda Yadda Yadda. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 16: Determined to Win

"I can't believe Seigaku lost Doubles 2," said Shiba, as she snapped a few pictures of Kawamura being led away from the court.

"Hai, who knew that there would be a team strong enough to face Seigaku in the District Tournament," agreed Inoue.

"Do you think they might lose the finals?" asked Shiba.

"We'll see." Inoue watched Seigaku's Golden Pair enter the court.

"Seigaku to serve!"

Oishi immediately started off on the offensive. He was determined to make sure that Doubles 1 went to Seigaku. Eiji was just as alert on the court. Instead of his normal playful mood, Eiji was serious about winning this match. He quickly ran to the net as Uchimura sent the return shot.

"Hoi!" Eiji sent the ball back towards Uchimura.

**"I'll show you why I'm known as 'The Front Killer',"** thought Uchimura.

He aimed the ball at Eiji's face, thinking that Eiji would avoid getting hit. As Eiji ducked his head to avoid the ball, his right arm wrapped around his front. His racquet moved behind his head, making contact with the ball, sending the ball back across the court. This move surprised Uchimura and Mori so much that they missed the ball.

"15-0"

"Th-that guy's movements are too fast," Mori choked out.

"Heh. This is nothing." Eiji smiled and twirled his racquet around his wrist.

Over by the Fudomine bench.

"Kamio start your warm up. Ibu-chan go help him," ordered Tachibana. The two players got up and left the bench.

"The pressures on the single players are big. We beat Fuji, a third year, by luck. That pair had been strong." Kamio commented to Shika. They walked by the Seigaku side of the stands to go warm up by the water fountains.

"You don't sound very confident that we will win," said Shika.

"Of course not. Tachibana won't even have to play because I can beat my guy with ease~," Kamio said in a sing song voice.

The two did not notice Kaidou overhear their conversation. Kaidou's shoulders tensed, after hearing Kamio's cocky comment. He immediately got up with an angry hiss and followed the two Fudomine players. Only Rin noticed his absence, since she had been sitting next to Kaidou. Deciding to make sure he does not start something with the opposing team, Rin went to go play peacekeeper.

The two Fudomine players were rallying two tennis balls back and forth between each other next to the water fountains when Kaidou found them.

"Hey, you over there! What did you say before?" Kaidou hissed out to Kamio.

Instead of answering Kaidou the two players continued to rally. Kamio turned towards Kaidou and gave him a cocky smirk. This angered Kaidou even more. He took a step towards the two, when Rin walked past him. Her racquet was in her right hand, resting on her shoulder.

"Hey, wait…" Kaidou tried to say before Rin walked through the line of fire.

Rin casually hit the balls away from her and back towards Kamio and Shika. The rally continued, as she followed her path towards the drinking fountain. The two Fudomine players just looked at her like she was crazy; as she bent down to take a drink. Kaidou was just as surprised to see Rin make her way unscathed.

Kamio and Shika quickly caught the balls once Rin finished drinking, so she would not walk through their play area again. Rin turned around and smirked.

"Hey, want to try it with an additional ball?" Rin asked cheekily.

**"What a punk,**" thought Kamio. Rin walked past everyone and back to the court.

"Che." Kaidou shook his head at his kohai's antics. Deciding he should warm up too, he took off at a jog around the tennis courts.

- Back on the court -

Eiji was still zipping around the front section of the court, returning every ball with the grace and agility of a cat. It was starting to frustrate the Fudomine duo that they could not get past Eiji's defenses. Also when they finally did get a shot through, it was only because Eiji let them. Oishi was always in position to return the ball whenever that happened.

To match the darkening mood of the Fudomine players, the sky started to be covered with black clouds. A light drizzled began to fall onto the court. Spectators scrambled for cover, while the match continued at a faster pace in hopes of finishing before the referee decided to stop the match.

"Shouldn't they stop the match until the rain stops?" Kachiro asked out loud.

"The rain should end in approximately 3 minutes, but it has already effected how this match will play," noted Inui.

The rain had started to form small puddles on the court. Water started to collect on the ball, making the ball heavier and harder to return. With the added distraction, only the Fudomine side seemed to be effected by the wet terrain. Eiji was using the water to his advantage by gliding to his next position at a faster pace. Even when it looked like he slipped and was going to fall flat on his face; instead he immediately did a one handed flip to right himself again. He was even able to return the ball as he flipped.

The rain finally stopped, as predicted by Inui, before the referee could postpone the match after seeing Eiji almost fall. The added stress of the weather changes and Eiji's acrobatic style had thrown the Fudomine players so much that the game soon ended in Seigaku's favor.

"Winner, Doubles 1: Seigaku Kikumaru-Oishi. 6-2"

The players shook each others hands before exiting the court. It had been a good match, but Mori and Uchimura just did not have the same amount of doubles experience as the Golden Pair.

"Singles 3 Kaidou vs. Kamio"

Kaidou let out a hiss as he entered the court. Kamio quickly removed his ear buds and placed his music player on the bench. His left hand still snapped to a beat only he could hear.

"Hey, I heard your nickname was 'Mamushi'. That suits you perfectly," said Kamio.

Instead of commenting, Kaidou swung his racquet towards Kamio's face. Kamio immediately shifted his weight backwards to avoid the swing.

"That swing was pretty fast." Kamio remarked.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!" cried out the judge. He quickly got off his chair to go reprimand Kaidou further, but quickly backed off after seeing Kaidou's glare.

"Kaidou!" Tezuka shouted out.

Kaidou looked towards Tezuka briefly before hesitantly apologizing to Kamio.

"I apologize for my player's action." Tezuka directed towards Tachibana.

"No, Kamio provoked him. I should apologize too," said Tachibana.

"One set match. Fudomine to serve!"

Kamio sent a standard serve over the net and quickly moved towards the net.

**"Why the hell is he approaching the net right after serving? That baka is leaving the cross court unguarded,"** thought Kaidou.

Kaidou sent a quick cross shot, trying to take advantage of Kamio's mistake. Kamio swiftly moved across the court to position himself for the return, surprising Kaidou.

"Heh, I bet Seigaku thought they would win in their doubles matches. That's why their singles 3 & 2 are first and second years." Ishida commented to Mori.

"Yeah, too bad for them that our singles players are better than our doubles," said Mori.

"Especially with Kamio's speed. I doubt anyone can beat it," agreed Ishida.

"I'm in the rhythm~" Kamio hummed to himself, as he skidded across the wet court to return Kaidou's shots.

"Ffssshh."

**"What an irritating punk,"** thought Kaidou.

The game continued with Kamio crisscrossing over the court. Finally Kaidou seemed to get a break. Kamio had sent a shot towards the back corner, positioning the ball perfectly for his signature move.

"Snake Shot!" cried out the Ichinen trio, as the ball flew over the net.

"No wonder Seigaku is so high ranked. To have a player that can hit such high angle balls…" Tachibana mused outloud.

"Too bad he's up against 'Speed Demon' Kamio though," said Shika.

To prove Shika's point, Kamio quickly caught up to the ball and returned it. Kaidou was unable to reach the ball in time, allowing for another point for Fudomine.

"Is that the best you can do?" Kamio asked cheekily.

"Wah! This is bad. Kaidou-sempai's Snake Shot has been countered!" exclaimed Horio.

"Che, you're pretty confident about your speed," remarked Kaidou.

"Why don't you try it with your so called Snake Whatever." Kamio smirked.

The game started up again with renewed vigor for both parties. Not to be deterred, Kaidou sent another Snake Shot across the court.

"Too slow~" as Kamio easily sent the ball back over the net. Kaidou ran towards the net in a futile attempt to reach the ball in time. Due to the wet ground, Kaidou slipped onto the ground and missed. He wiped the grimy water off his face, as he got off the ground.

"It looks like Kaidou finally met his match," said Oishi.

"If one is able to catch up to the Snake Shot, it gives them the optimal position to return the ball at an even better angle. This means it is dangerous for Kaidou to use the Snake Shot against this opponent." Inui remarked. Glancing up from his notebook, Inui continued. "Furthermore, due to the rain, the pitch is now wet. As the ball gathers water, growing heavier, the power of the Snake Shot decreases."

"Eh? Does that mean Kaidou-sempai might lose?" asked Tomoka.

**_"No, in this situation Kamio is running too fast,"_** thought Rin after hearing Inui's explanation in the background.

Kamio easily returned another one of Kaidou's Snake Shots. Kaidou ran after the ball again hoping to reach it in time. He slipped again, but his determination allowed him to concentrate enough to hit the ball as he fell. The path of the ball curved around the side of the net and landed on Fudomine's side of the court. Due to the odd trajectory of the ball, Kamio was too shocked to run after the ball.

"40-15"

"That was like a Boomerang Snake!" shouted out Katsuo.

**"Hitting it around the outer post… how is such a technique possible?"** Kamio was still stunned by the move.

"Such an impressive move. Ie data." Inui quickly wrote down notes about Kaidou's new move.

"Well after that, I think I'll increase the pace~" Kamio lightly tossed the ball into the air, before hitting it with more strength than the previous serves. The shortened distance of the throw increased the speed of the serve. The added speed allowed Kamio to gain a service ace.

"Game, 1-0 Fudomine lead!"

Kaidou service play was even fiercer during his service game. He was determined to not lose his service game. The ball flew towards him. He tried to repeat the curved ball for another Boomerang Snake. Kamio saw the move, but could not position himself for it. Lucky for Kamio, the ball hit just outside the court.

"15-0"

Kamio quickly gained the upper hand, as Kaidou tried to do another Boomerang Snake.

"3-0, Fudomine lead. Change court!"

Kaidou sank onto the bench to rest. He could not figure out how to beat Kamio. His Snake Shot did not work, and the Boomerang Snake was unreliable.

"Oi, you done beating yourself up? What do you think you're doing, hitting the balls in such a haphazard way? Baka," said Ryuzaki.

"Ryuzaki-sensei!" Oishi tried to come to the defense of Kaidou. Tezuka immediately stopped him, in order for her to continue.

"Are you so weak that you need to depend on the Boomerang Snake? Can't you beat him without it? Kaidou, what kind of tennis are you playing?" Ryuzaki said quietly.

Over by the Fudomine bench.

"Kamio, your pace is a mess." Tachibana scolded the smug Kamio as he returned to the bench.

"But Tachibana-san, Kamio is doing really well…" said Mori.

"You're running too fast because you're paying too much attention to that Boomerang Snake." Tachibana pointed out. Kamio did not want to hear it and headed back onto the court.

The two players started the match once more. Both determined to win. After being scolded by Ryuzaki-sensei, Kaidou knew what he had to do.

"3-5 Fudomine in the lead."

Kamio knew he had to keep up the pace in order to win. He zipped back and forth returning each of Kaidou's shots. Kaidou just kept sending Snake Shots for Kamio to run after. Finally Kamio hit the ball for a return, but the ball hit the net instead of going over it.

**"He isn't even panting," **Kamio realized.

"Morning Jog: 10 km. After Club Jog: 10 km. Evening Jog: 10 km. Back and forth shifts 50 x 3." Inui listed off from his notebook. He then turned it so the other members could see even more written on it.

"What is that?" Sakuno asked.

"This is Kaidou's daily training menu." Inui explained.

"Eh! Kaidou-sempai does that every day!" Horio cried out what everyone else thought.

"That's triple the amount we do during the normal practice." Arai pointed out.

- Flashback -

The Inui siblings had found Kaidou after the last of the inter-ranking matches.

"Do you want to have a stamina that no one can beat? Then try this training menu." Inui presented Kaidou with a notebook listing out all the things that needed to be done.

"You could even double it if you have to," added Umi.

"Why are you two helping me? Aren't we competing against each other for a place on the team?" Kaidou asked.

"The training menu will help you against the others…" said Inui.

"But, it will also give us the data we need to beat you as well," Umi finished her brother's sentence. Both Inuis' glasses glinted in the light.

"I'll make you both regret it." Kaidou smirked.

- End Flashback -

Kamio was determined to end this match. The game had been match point for him several times already. He was started to get frustrated in how Kaidou was not backing down.

**"Time to increase my rhythm."**

The rally continued with Kamio losing stamina, and Kaidou keeping a steady pace.

"I'll keep fighting till the very end." Kaidou hissed out to his opponent.

In the end, Kamio did not have the stamina to match the drawn out game against Kaidou.

"Game, set, match! Seigaku Kaidou. 7-5"

"What a scary guy. His determination even beat Kamio," said Uchimaru.

"Well their victory is short lived because it's Shika-chan's turn," remarked An.

AN: Yeah I was hoping to finish the Districts in this chapter, but I had to do other stuff. I'll put up the rest in a couple of days with my awesome omake. There's a 95% chance that you will all like the omake I wrote. Sorry for the mostly Kaidou/Kamio centric chapter. I know it's a rehash of cannon, but I don't like it when authors just put "same as before …" or "see cannon for ….". It just seems lazy on the author's part. If the reader doesn't want to read it, they can skim through it. I apologize now to readers who found it boring.


	18. Chapter 17: Eye on the Prize

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

"Speech in Japanese"

**"Thoughts ****in ****Japanese"**

"_Speech __in __English"_

"**_Thoughts _****_in _****_English"_**

AN: I apologize ahead of time for the really corny chapter title. Didn't really read this chapter over as much as I normally do, so please let me know if there is grammar or odd sentence structures.

Chapter 17: Eye on the Prize

"Single 2: Echizen vs. Ibu!"

Rin grabbed her racquet, making her way onto the court. The crowd noticed her smaller stature and immediately knew that Seigaku was sending out a freshman.

"Oy, why is Seigaku sending out a 1st year for Singles 2 for such an important match?" one spectator commented.

"Yeah, I know. Are they throwing away this game?" the neighboring spectator agreed.

"It probably doesn't matter to them, because Tezuka is in Singles 1 anyways," remarked the first speaker.

Over by the Fudomine bench.

"Shika-chan, don't underestimate her," An warned her fellow player. "She was pretty good from what I saw on the street courts."

Shika only nodded in agreement, as she met Echizen out on the court.

"Echizen to serve!"

Rin held her racquet in her right hand. She had heard many of the comments the spectators had said about her. Their opinions only fueled her need to prove to everyone that she was one of the best. This would be Rin's first official competition singles match in Japan, so she wanted to make it one that no one would forget. Everyone from Seigaku noticed Rin take a familiar stance.

"My, my, Echizen-chan is already starting out with that. She's already playing so seriously," said Fuji.

The ball flew up into the air and with a powerful strike, soaring over the net. Shika positioned herself to return the ball. However, much to the surprise of everyone, but Seigaku, the ball bounced towards Shika's face. Shika immediately dodged the ball to avoid Rin's Twist Serve. There was a stunned silence over the court.

"Neh? Aren't you going to call it?" Rin asked with a smirk.

"Ano… 15-0"

A mummer coursed through the crowd. Many unbelieving of what they had just witnessed. Rin took up the same stance and sent another Twist Serve. Shika knew it was coming at her, but she did not have time to react other than to avoid being struck.

"How is a first year able to hit a Twist Serve that accurately?" Kamio exclaimed from the bench.

Rin continued her service play with a couple more Twist Serves, leading to more service aces.

"40-0"

Hoping to win her service play with all service aces, Rin performed another Twist Serve; however, Shika was now prepared. She moved towards the path of the ball, as it fell to the ground. The ball was now no longer aimed at her face, allowing her to counter it.

This just made Rin smile a more genuine smile. She had found another girl serious about tennis. Rin did not know that the same sense of happiness flowed through Shika too. It was the first time either had faced a girl that had the same drive. Rin returned the ball over the net. Shika was too close to the net, and was unable to reach the ball in time.

"1-0"

"Th-that game didn't even last more than a minute," Ishida choked out. He was shocked at how easily one of Fudomine's best players was being beaten by a freshman.

"Way to go Rin! Show them why you are Seigaku's freshman ace!" Tomoka shouted. The sign "Go, Fight, Rin!" held high above her head, as she stood up on a bench. Sakuno could be seen trying to get Tomoka down before Tomoka got in trouble or caused more of scene. Rin quickly pulled her cap down to avoid acknowledging Tomoka out of embarrassment.

"Hoo… now I'm annoyed. This freshman has such adoring fans already. Also I let those Twist Serves get to me. I need to…." Shika muttered to herself. She decided to fight fire with fire.

Shika's stance mirrored the stance Rin had taken moments ago. With a sense of deja-vu, the ball flew over the net and went straight at Rin's face. Rin moved her head to the side, but the ball still grazed her cap. The Fila white cap fell to the ground. Another mummer swept through the crowd over this new development.

"No way," Horio stammered. Others on Seigaku's side where also in disbelief that Rin's opponent was able to use the Twist Serve too.

"Ibu-chan's Kick Serve," Tachibana calmly stated.

"Kick Serve? I thought that was a Twist Serve?" Sakuno asked.

"They are the same thing. Twist Serve is just the older name for the move and is more powerful than the Kick Serve," Inui explained to the freshmen tennis club members.

Rin picked up her cap and dusted it off. Shika was scrutinizing Rin more closely. There was just something off about the way Rin had been playing up till now that Shika could not quite figure out what it was.

"You are still hiding something. I can feel it," Shika said outloud.

Rin's smile from before got even bigger. Instead of verbally confirming Shika's suspicions, Rin decided to show it. Her right hand lightly tossed the racquet into the air and she caught it with her left hand. She took up a receiving stance.

"Let's stop fooling around then, and play seriously."

The spectators and Fudomine team could not believe it. This freshman had been playing the entire tournament with her right hand, when she was really left-handed. How was that possible?

"So you're a lefty?" Shika asked for confirmation.

"I need to serve with my right hand to hit the guy who's right-handed. You're pretty good to be able to figure out something was wrong so early in the game." Rin complimented her opponent.

"Hmph. I feel insulted by the fact you've been using your non-dominant hand. I'll make you lose for being so arrogant."

Another Kick Serve was sent at Rin. Having played against her father enough times, Rin already knew the best way to counter a ball aimed for your head. She lunged towards the ball, sending it back to Shika. The game progressed at a faster pace now that the two players had come to a silent understanding of not holding back. Steadily, Rin was gaining a lead against Shika.

**"How long are you going to keep this rally up, Ibu-chan? I know you like to give your opponents the lead before winning in a comeback. But if you don't do something now, it will be too late," **thought Tachibana.

Tachibana stared intently at Shika, wondering what was going on. He saw the amount of sweat forming on Shika's brow and her shortness of breath. He came to a realization when Shika almost missed a return.

**"It can't be. Is Ibu-chan having a hard time beating this girl?"**

"Seiguka leads 4-0"

The match continued on. It was only after a few minutes that Fuji noticed it.

"Oishi-kun. There is something off about Fudomine's attack style, neh? It looks like she is hitting topspins and slices towards Echizen-chan's forearm and backhand." Fuji pointed out.

**"Ibu-chan! You aren't going to do what I think…"** as Tachibana noticed it too.

Rin moved to hit an easy return. Her arm suddenly did not move, letting the ball fly under her racquet. She looked at her left arm strangely and did a few practices swings. Her arm felt alright, but she was still left confused over what had happened.

**_"Why didn't my arm move just then? Was it just a fluke or is that girl doing something to cause it?"_** Rin decided that it must have been her mind playing tricks on her and got ready to play.

"Eh? Why did Echizen miss such an easy return?" Horio asked outloud.

"Alternating topspins and slices…" Inui muttered to himself.

"Inui-sempai?" inquired Sakuno.

"I read somewhere that if you hit numerous alternating topspins and slices, the muscles in the arm will start to contract. This causes the player's arm to go numb. It only lasts for a few seconds at most, but it is enough to distract a player." Inui explained, searching through a notebook to find where he had written it down.

**"Ibu-chan actually did it! She actually created the 'Spot'," **Tachibana thought in wonder.

The rally continued again with more topspins and slices coming from Shika. Rin ran towards the net, intent on returning the next shot. She felt her arm go numb, but twisted her body to make the racquet swing at the ball. Instead, the racquet flew out of her numb hand and struck the net pole. The racquet handle shattered on impact. Debris scattered the court. A large piece slit Rin's left eye before she could avoid it.

"Kyah!" Blood splattered across the court.

"Oh my gosh! Is Echizen alright?" Shiba asked Inoue, as she lowered her camera. She did not think their readers would want to see a bloodied freshman girl.

"I don't know. It looks like there is a lot of blood." Inoue stated.

"Oh no, an eye injury!" Oishi exclaimed. He quickly ran off to get medical supplies.

"Woah! Echizen-san, daijoubu?" Shika was worried about her opponent. She had wanted to beat Rin, but not by default due to an injury.

The referee immediately called a time out. Oishi returned with the medical supplies. He tried to stop the bleeding, but did not have the right supplies or the medical knowledge to help with an injury this serious. The freshmen had to be held back by Inui to prevent them from rushing to Rin's aid. Momoshiro collected the broken pieces of Rin's racquet off the court. The other Regulars could only look on with worry, as Rin continued to bleed.

"What's the situation, Oishi?" Tezuka asked his vice-captain.

"I can't stop the bleeding. Luckily it only cut her eyelid, but it is pretty deep." Oishi diagnosed. "She cannot continue playing this match."

There was no way Rin was going to concede defeat because of a bleeding eye. If she could not handle a little cut, how was she going to become the best and beat her stupid Oyaji? She noticed Momoshiro placing the broken pieces into her bag.

"Momo-sempai! While you are at it, get my spare racquet out." Rin called out much to the surprise of her teammates.

"Sure thing, Echizen-chan."

"What! You're bleeding!" Oishi exclaimed trying to convince her not to play.

"Don't act so recklessly, Echizen-chan. You're bleeding too much to be able to continue playing." Inui pointed out.

"You can't seriously want to keep playing. I have to stop the match if the bleeding continues," said the referee.

Rin was starting to get annoyed now. It was nice that her sempai cared about her well being, but this was her match to play. She wiped away the blood using her sleeve. This caused the blood to smear across her face, tinting her pale skin red. She looked more like a horror movie victim now than a tennis player.

"How about now?" Rin asked, even as more blood ran over her blood-smeared face.

*sigh* "Rin, come over here!" Ryuzaki ordered. Rin was made to sit on the bench. Seigaku's coach could be heard muttering about how Rin inherited her father's stubbornness.

"What am I going to do with you? Does it hurt?" Ryuzaki asked.

"I'm fine." Rin stated. The blood could be seen dripping to the ground now.

"Liar."

Ryuzaki grabbed the medical supplies away from Oishi. The blood was cleaned off Rin's face using antiseptic wipes. With practiced ease, Ryuzaki bandaged the wound. "This is only temporary. It will last no more than 15 minutes."

"Can I play now that the bleeding has stopped?" Rin asked the referee. He stammered for an answer.

"You can't let her do this Ryuzaki-sensei. She needs to go to the hospital." Oishi pleaded with his coach.

**"This match isn't worth a player getting hurt more," **thought Oishi.

"You have 10 minutes. After that, you forfeit the match." Tezuka handed Rin her racquet.

"That's more than enough." Rin walked out to the court where her opponent waited for her. "Sorry for keeping you waiting Ibu-san, but it looks like I can't play with you anymore. I need to beat you faster than anticipated."

"Che, what an arrogant freshman. And here I was worried about you," Shika muttered.

The match started up again, but Rin now knew the secret to Shika's Spot technique. Inui had told her about it, while she was being bandaged up by Ryuzaki.

"Hey Ibu-san. That's some technique you got there. Too bad for you that you're up against a player like me," Rin immediately switched her racquet from her left hand to her right hand to hit the incoming ball with a right-handed backhand swing, instead of a left-handed forehand swing. When the ball came back over the net, Rin switched the racquet back into her left-hand.

"Nitoryo..." Inoue whispered.

**"There has to be a connection now. First the Twist Serve, now Nitoryo. This is another Samurai Nanjiro."**

The spectators watched as Rin fluidly moved her racquet back and forth between her left and right hands. There were no pauses or missteps when the racquet switched hands, thanks to her fast reflexes. By switching hands, Rin prevented Shika from numbing one of her arms. She started to hit low balls towards Shika, effectively stopping her opponent from sending anymore balls with topspin. This match was over for Shika.

"Winner Echizen!"

Shika did not feel bad about losing to such a stubborn girl. The fact that the girl still won while playing with only one eye was a testament to Rin's tennis skills. Besides, she had gotten her wish of playing against a serious female tennis player. Just not the one she had expected.

"Hey that was under 10 minutes right?" Rin asked her teammates. They were still shocked that she had won even with an injury. Once the realization hit that they had won the final matches, a cheer ran through the Seigaku supporters.

- Line Break -

The two teams lined up opposite of each other. Tezuka shook Tachibana's hand thanking him for a good match.

"Hey is your arm ok?" Ishida asked Kawamura now that he had returned from the hospital.

"Ano... it's fine." Kawamura meekly stated. Fuji handed him a racquet, suddenly a fire burned behind his eyes.

"HORA! You've got a damn good technique!" Kawamura shouted at Ishida, frightening the Fudomine players.

"Hey good game Mamushi," said Kamio. Kaidou hissed, while glaring at his former opponent.

"I hope you are alright Echizen, but it is mostly your fault. You shouldn't be swinging your racquet so recklessly. Even though you won, you still shouldn't have continued the match. A player needs to think about their health more..." Shika mumbled more to herself than Rin.

"Ibu-chan." Tachibana tried to draw his player's attention before she said something really bad. Unfortunately, she did not respond.

"Ibu-chan!" Still no response, as she kept talking.

"Shika-chan!" Tachibana scolded with more force. The shock of hearing her first name from her buchou, made her train of thought grind to a screeching halt. Her cheeks turned slightly pink after noticing all the players' attention on her.

"... Sunmason..."

*sigh* "Anyways, I'm sorry about all the injuries, Tezuka-san. Congratulations and we'll see you at the Prefecturals." Tachibana prepared to leave the court.

"Hai, good luck at the Prefecturals," said Tezuka, cementing a friendly rivalry between the two teams.

- Line Break -

Rin was immediately seen to once she reached the hospital. Luckily for Rin, Inui had called Umi while she was still at the hosptial with Kawamura. Umi had arranged for everything to be ready once Ryuzaki got Rin to the hospital. Although it took quite a bit of explanation on Umi's part to the doctor as to why so many of her club members were being injured.

The doctor had put in a few stitches to close the wound over Rin's eye. He still could not figure out how a game of tennis could end with bruised wrist bones, or an eye laceration. Rin was required to wear the eye patch for a couple days. Once the week was over, the stitches would be removed.

Rin sluggishly made her way to the hospital waiting room. Once there, she found Ryuzaki, and her freshmen female friends waiting for her.

"I've already informed your gaki of a father about your eye," Ryuzaki told Rin.

"Daijoubu, Rin-chan?" Tomoka asked.

She could only nod affirmatively to Tomoka. The events of the day and the rigorous training from the previous day were finally catching up to her. All she wanted to do was sleep for the rest of the day.

"Maybe we should take her home instead," Sakuno suggested.

"There is a 95% chance she would want to eat at Kawamura-sempai's place first before going to bed," Umi argued.

The mention of food woke Rin up. She hazily remembered that Kawamura's family owned a sushi restaurant. There were few things that had a higher priority than sleep, and one of them was good Japanese food. Plus after having such awful tasting juice the previous night, large amounts of yummy sushi was just the thing to make the lingering aftertaste go away.

They arrived to a packed restaurant. Not wanting to intrude on the team bonding experience, Ryuzaki dropped the girls off to enjoy themselves. The other tennis club members were already enjoying the food when they entered. They quickly squeezed themselves at the same table as Fuji, Momoshiro, Kikumaru, and Kaidou. Rather than order some more sushi like the other girls, Rin immediately starting taking the prepared sushi off Momoshiro's plate.

"Hey! Those were mine Echizen!" Momoshiro cried out in outrage. Rin's response was to eat another piece. The two started to eat the sushi in front of them at an alarming rate.

Eiji lost his own sushi to the battling duo. He searched around for more sushi. The other three girls were sharing their own plate and Kaidou was guarding his plate with glares. Fuji was calmly eating her own plate of what looked like cucumber rolls. Eiji had a brilliant idea.

"Fujiko, I think Tezuka-buchou wants to talk to you. Nyah," said Eiji.

Fuji turned her back to her sushi, towards the bar where Tezuka, Inui and Kawamura were sitting. Eiji quickly swiped a roll and quickly popped it into his mouth.

"Gah! So... spicy! Tea, water, anything!" Eiji exclaimed.

"How naughty of you, Eiji-kun. You ate one of my wasabi rolls." Fuji chided Eiji. The other team members voiced their surprise and horror that Fuji was eating sushi that had only wasabi, seaweed, and rice.

Eiji looked around for something to cool his burning mouth. Umi handed Eiji a water bottle. Not noticing who handed him the bottle, Eiji quickly downed the contents.

"Bleh. What was that? It tastes like rotten vegetables." A look of disgust passed over his face.

"Sucess in that test subject remains conscious after consumption of Counter #6. Described as rotten vegetables. Counter #7 should include mint or possibly thyme to ..." Umi mumbled, as she wrote in her green notebook. She looked up from her notebook to see everyone had moved away from her.

"Moi, I would think you guys would be happy that I was making a counter mixture to Oni-chan's vegetable juice." Umi pouted.

"Not if you are using us as test subjects!" Momoshiro cried.

"Some sacrifices are needed to further science."

The club members felt this was a good sign to start heading home. Tezuka and Oishi left to go speak with Ryuzaki at school. Kaidou was next to leave. He needed to complete his evening run. Fuji left for home, after forcing Momoshiro to accompany her and to carry Rin back to her house. Rin fell into a food coma, thanks to eating so much sushi. Inui escorted his sister and the other freshman girls home. The two Inui siblings discussed the data that they had seen during the tournament. The other girls were confused after five minutes. The rest of the Regulars headed up to Kawamura's room to play video games.

- Line Break -

"Tezuka-kun, what are you doing here? You should still be Kawamura's," as Ryuzaki looked up from the math homework she was grading.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, I want your permission to have a match against Echizen."

AN: Districts are finally done. Hope you guys liked it. Enjoy the following omake.

Omake: Arrgh, Mate

Rin was happily sleeping in today. Her mother had decided to keep her home after the District Tournaments to make sure she was alright. Since there was no practice after the district win, Rin did not care much about missing school for one day. She was using the day off to catch up on some well deserved sleep.

The smell of food wafted up the stairs towards her room. Nanako was cooking a Japanese breakfast for Rin to celebrate Rin's first tournament win in Japan. Although, since it was already past eleven o'clock, technically it was more of a brunch. Rin could smell the food and decided it was best to wake up before her idiot of a father ate all of the food.

Rin slowly rolled out of bed. She yawned and shuffled over to the closet to get dressed. Even though her eye was injured, did not mean she could not play a bit of tennis after eating. She grabbed the first shirt in front of her, which was a t-shirt with horizontal red and white stripes. The next article of clothing taken out was a pair of black shorts. Rin dressed without paying much attention to what she had pulled out. She then looked at the hooks on the wall where she kept her caps. All of her caps had been replaced with bandannas or head scarves. Rin stared at the spot on the wall for a few seconds to process what she was seeing.

**_"Stupid _****_Oyaji."_** Rin thought as she searched around for her caps.

It was only after she took a quick glance in the mirror that she realized how far her farther had went. Rin now understood why her caps had been replaced. Nanjiro had some how switched out the white medical eye patch the doctor had given her with a black one as she slept. The new eye patch even had the white pirate skull and crossbones for added effect. Rin quickly looked at the rest of her clothes in the closet. In there, she found that all the outfits were pirate themed. She just needed a parrot on her shoulder or a wooden leg to complete the ensemble.

"Oyaji!"

*Chuckle* "You're still mada mada brat. That's what you get for destroying my precious magazines."

AN: Yar, Mateys. I'm surprised I haven't seen the pirate reference done before when Ryoma's eye lid gets slit, so I decided to do one. I had written this omake before Talk Like a Pirate Day here in the U.S. Unfortunately I missed it by over a month. T.T Oh well, I like it anyways. Hope you liked this chapter.


	19. Chapter 18: WMD More Like WID

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

"Speech in Japanese"

**"Thoughts ****in ****Japanese"**

"_Speech __in __English"_

"_**Thoughts **__**in **__**English"**_

AN: Felt like writing a random piece before it became serious in the next chapter. This is part of my cannon, although it could just as likely be turned into an omake for another chapter. However, I had this incident planned for awhile now and didn't want to make it into an omake. Enjoy.

Chapter 18: WMD More Like WID

It was the first afternoon practice after the District Tournament. Everyone was still in high spirits after taking first place. The mood darkened once the members noticed the large number of people gathering data around the courts. It was rather distracting for many of the tennis club members.

"Minna-san, let's start our warm up jog." Oishi said to the assembled group. A murmur was heard amongst the spies. They quickly jotted down how the Seigaku team required all members to jog at the beginning of pratice.

"Ignore them!" ordered Tezuka. A flash of a camera went off, blinding him.

*sigh* "Or at least try to," he mumbled.

"Hey, where's Umi-san?" Katsuo asked.

"Don't worry. Imouto-chan is doing some needed pest control." Inui's glasses glinted.

- Line Break -

A few of the club members were taking a quick break by the drinking fountains after the jog. Fuji bent down to take a drink, when she heard rustling coming from the nearby bushes. She stopped to take a quick glance, but the bushes remained still.

"Moi, Fujiko there are too many people here. It's so… annoying." Eiji complained.

Fuji hummed in agreement. She was about to redirect the fountain to spray the hidden people, when strangled cries were heard from behind the bushes. The familiar thuds of falling bodies followed afterwards. The branches shifted in the wind to reveal a figure, still obscured by the shade of the foliage.

"Ah… there's a monster behind there!" Eiji cried out, jumping behind Oishi in fear.

"E-Eiji, d-don't be ridiculous," Oishi tried to reassure his doubles partner even as the two edged away from the figure.

The figure drew closer for the club members to see. The person was a girl wearing a lab coat, opaque goggles, and a respirator. In the girl's hands was a spray bottle containing a green liquid that they had come to fear.

"Aerosol testing of Inui Special Vegetable Juice completed." The respirator and goggles were removed to reveal Umi. She quickly took down notes in her green notebook.

"It's worse than a monster, Eiji-sempai!" Momoshiro exclaimed in fear.

Momoshiro was still traumatized from the doubles practice with Rin. He instinctively looked for quick escape routes. Eiji was just as panicked and jumped onto Oishi's back reflexively. The club members could now see a few of the unfortunate souls sprayed with Inui juice sprawled on the ground. Umi calmly stepped over a twitching body. The group took a step back with each of Umi's steps forward.

"Librarian-chan, what are you doing?" asked Rin.

Rin did not feel too sorry for the spies. They had been bothering her the most out of the Regulars because they kept talking about how they expected someone bigger for Seigaku's freshman ace. But for her health, it was best to know up front what crazy ideas Umi was working on. She still had nightmares from the look on Horio's face after Inui Vegetable Special Counter #8.

"Ah. Oni-chan and I were brainstorming ways to have his juice not knock people out. I had wanted to see if an aerosol delivery system could work," Umi was still writing notes.

"How did it go Imouto-chan?" Inui startled the members from appearing next to the group. They quickly moved away from the siblings in fear.

"Interestingly enough, all of my test subjects collapsed at a 1.5x faster rate than ingestion."

"I'm even more scared now Oishi!" Eiji's grip tightened around Oishi.

"Me too, but at least it got rid of those guys that were annoying you," Oishi consoled Eiji. Umi had sprayed the non-club members around the courts, leaving a wake of unconscious bodies in her path.

"Inui!"

The assembled group turned to see Tezuka. He had come by to find out what was taking so long by the fountains. Both Inui siblings answered back.

*sigh* "Inui U."

"Hai, Tezuka-buchou?" Umi had removed the lab coat by now to reveal her normal practice attire.

"Warm up jog, since you missed it. Plus 10 more laps for weaponizing Inui Juice." Tezuka ordered. Umi nodded and started to put away her equipment much to the relief of the other members.

"Drills unless you all want laps too?" said Tezuka. The group quickly dispersed to the courts. Fuji lingered behind. She waited patiently for Umi to finish cleaning up. Her hand was held out.

"Only one spray is needed for desired results, since this is a concentrated form of juice. Here you go, Fuji-sempai, as promised for partial payment." Umi placed the spray bottle into Fuji's waiting hand.

"Make sure to give me the photos by the end of the week. Per our agreement, you'll get 15% of the profit and another bottle of concentrate upon delivery. Make sure you take good shots of the Regulars for better sale value. This equipment and ingredients for the juice doesn't come cheap." Umi stated.

"Saa… of course, Umi-chan, I'm a professional." Fuji sprayed some of the juice into her mouth.

"Mmm… tastes even better than normal. Want some?"

Umi shook her head.

"I've had enough already from testing my counters. I should have buyers lined up by next week. Pleasure doing business with you, Fuji-sempai." Umi left to go finish her laps before the end of practice.

AN: WMD=Weapons of Mass Destruction and WID=Weaponized Inui Drink. Of course, if you guys haven't figured it out, the ending of this chapter alludes to future omakes of Umi and Fuji's combined business venture on selling the Regulars' stuff and pictures to Seigaku fangirls/fanboys for profit. Like Umi said, making and testing those drinks don't come cheap. How else do you think Inui got the money to make them all the time? Next chapter will be mostly Fuji-centric on why she continues to play tennis and way more serious. I didn't think it would mesh well to have this and the more serious stuff together. Read & review please.


	20. Chapter 19: Believe In

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis material.

AN: This will be a mostly Fuji-centric chapter with fluff. You've been warned. As a reminder, I update my profile every few days on the status of the next chapter.

"Speech in Japanese"

**"Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 19: Believe In...

"Please bend your elbow."

"…"

"Good. Now rotate your arm."

"…"

"Excellent. Well it looks like you're now completely healed Tezuka-kun. So that means, I don't want to see you in this office again anytime soon," the doctor playfully ordered. The pair was in an examination room. Tezuka got up from the examining chair.

"Ah, arigato Oishi-sensei," said Tezuka. He bowed to the doctor before leaving the room. Oishi was waiting patiently by the door as he exited.

"Tezuka, what did my Uncle say?" Oishi asked. The two headed towards the hospital's main entrance.

"It's completely healed." To prove his statement, Tezuka bent his left elbow a few times.

"That's great! Seigaku will now be playing at full strength at Prefecturals."

"Hm." Tezuka hummed in agreement.

"But do you still plan on playing against Echizen? Can't you wait a little bit?" Oishi asked, hoping to change Tezuka's mind. The exit came into view.

"…"

"You just healed your arm. You shouldn't strain it, especially with Prefecturals coming up so soon…" Oishi continued.

Oishi was looking at Tezuka, while trying to convince him to not play against Rin. He had not noticed that Tezuka had stopped after they had exited the hospital. Oishi decided to use this opportunity to plead his case, and did not notice the figure in front of them.

"...You should be more careful Tezuka. I don't want to see you hurt again. Hey, are you even listening to me? I really think…"

"Fuji..."

Oishi stopped his lecture to finally take notice of the person in front of them. Fuji had been sitting on a bench in front of the hospital. She had been reading a book, until she heard Tezuka acknowledge her presence. The book was quickly stowed away into her bag.

"Tezuka-kun, Oishi-kun." Fuji greeted the two, as she walked up to them. An awkward silence descended on the trio. Oishi shifted uncomfortably. He felt like he was intruding on something private.

"Ano… I just remembered that Kaasan wanted me to invite Uncle to dinner. I'll see you two later." Oishi quickly retreated back into the hospital.

Once Oishi had left, the silence felt more comfortable between the pair. The two started to slowly walk a familiar path towards Fuji's house. Fuji decided to break the silence first.

"So you plan on playing a match against Echizen-chan?"

"Did Ryuzaki-sensei or Oishi tell you?"

"No, I just have my ways of knowing these sorts of things." Fuji smiled enigmatically.

The two had stopped in front of a street tennis court. Tezuka watched a pair of elementary school children try to play a tennis match. He could tell that they had only just started in their tennis career, since both of the players missed more balls than they had hit. The pair watched the two children play together. Tezuka remained silent, gathering his thoughts on what to say to make Fuji understand his reasons for playing against Rin.

"Echizen is currently playing her father's style of tennis. She'll never become the tennis player she wants to be if she stays that way. She needs something to motivate her to find her own style," said Tezuka.

"Hmm… I have to agree that this might be what it takes to make her tennis evolve. After all her father's tennis has brought her this far, so she doesn't see the need yet to change it." Fuji agreed.

"Hai," Tezuka was glad someone else understood his logic behind the decision.

"Although, I'm slightly jealous that she gets to have a match against you before we finish our previous one," she said in a teasing manner, but her demeanor changed to a more serious one.

"But are you sure you want to burden her with the same responsibility that Yamato-buchou gave you?" Fuji asked quietly.

"Don't worry. I know she'll look for help, rather than shoulder the burden on her own like I did for a time." Tezuka smiled at Fuji. She could not help but smile back with one of her rare genuine smiles.

Two Years Ago

This was the first time Fuji Shuuko would ever willingly admit that she was nervous. This would be the first time she would not be there to watch over her little brother. Yuuta was going to be entering his last year of elementary school. He would have to make friends with children who had been together for years. It made her wary about this whole situation.

Her older sister, Yumiko, had gotten into a graduate program at Tokyo University. It had coincided with a promotion that required Fuji Sr. to move to Tokyo as well. So the family had packed their things and moved to Tokyo from Chiba. She already missed her best friend, Saeki Kojirou. He was going to Rokkaku in Chiba with all of their other childhood friends and classmates from elementary school. Fuji was going to a brand new school, in a brand new city. Some school called Seishun Gakuen that was within walking distance of her new home.

- Line Break -

"Welcome everyone to Seigaku's Girls Tennis Club. I'm your coach/buchou, Kuki Leiko (1)," A third year girl with long, flowing brown hair said in front of a group of freshman girls. Leiko was wearing a really short, navy tennis skirt, with a Regular's jersey that was bordering on indecent with how tight it was.

The other female Regulars were wearing similar outfits to Leiko, but were more modest in appearance. Fuji noticed that the Regulars were the only returning members to the tennis club. The rest of the girls were freshmen like her. This made Fuji wary about the club and its practices, especially when Leiko stated Rule #1 was to obey her.

"Keiko, you and your friends get to do rallies with us. The rest of you set up and collect balls," Leiko ordered. Another brunette similar to Leiko stepped up to the Regulars along with three other girls. Kuki Keiko held a smug expression looking at the other freshmen that would have to do menial labor, while she got to play with the Regulars.

"Why do they get to play?" The girl next to Fuji asked. Fuji could tell that the two girls were related and that the buchou liked to favor people over others.

"Are you questioning my orders?" Leiko hissed out in anger. The girl took a step back in surprise, quickly shaking her head no.

"I thought I had said that Rule #1 in this club is to obey orders from me. Since this is your first day, I'll let you off with only 30 laps as punishment. But let this be a lesson to everyone. No one ever questions me. The punishment will be far worse. Now get to work!" Leiko yelled out to the frightened freshmen.

Fuji narrowed her eyes. Leiko's attitude confirmed what Fuji had already suspected. This girl was a tyrant that favored nepotism and cronyism. The other girls were so afraid of their buchou's wrath that they quickly got to work without any more questions or complaints. Fuji decided to remain in the club for now. At the very least it will be fun getting rid of the girl.

- Line Break -

The poor girl who ran those thirty laps was the first of many to drop out of the club during the first month. There was only a handful left besides Fuji, Keiko, and her cronies who were still in the club. Fuji was actually bored in the club. So far, she had not been able to play any tennis. The only reason why Fuji stayed was because she was having fun messing with her new buchou.

First it had been gum on the girl's shoes for over a week. Leiko was constantly looking where she stepped to avoid anything, but somehow gum would always end up on one of her shoes. She ordered that no one in the club was allowed to have gum. To this day, she still was cautious about her movements.

Fuji upped the ante next with a large number of spiders in Leiko's locker inside the locker room. Leiko had run out of the locker room screaming bloody murder when she found them. An added bonus was that some of the spiders had migrated to the neighboring lockers that were the other Regulars'. The school had to fumigate the locker room to get rid of all the spiders. Practice had to be canceled for a few days. It helped give Fuji time to acquire what she needed for her next phase.

The latest incident involved itching powder in Leiko's school uniform. Fuji had placed it on the girl's clothes while she had been tasked to get the equipment out of the locker room. She did not like the way Leiko had been using harsh training methods on the girls. Some of the girls had dropped out due to injuries sustained from practices. Leiko made all of the girls, even the Regulars, run that day out of anger. She had a date with a boy that weekend. The rashes could be seen all over her body. The boy took one look at her and quickly canceled the date for fear of contracting something from her. The rashes lasted for the next three days, along with Leiko's foul mood.

Kuki Leiko was on edge the entire time leading up to the District tournament. She was certain now that someone was out to get her. She suspected everyone, even her sister, and started punishing all members. Her poor leadership skills and the stress from all of Fuji's attacks caused the team to lose at Districts for the first time ever. Throughout the history of Seigaku tennis clubs, both the male and female clubs have always made it to at least Prefecturals. Fuji had not anticipated the loss, but it was the perfect opportunity to complete her plans on getting rid of Leiko.

- Line Break -

An envelope was dropped into a locker. A figure quickly slipped out of the room, right before Leiko entered the locker room alone. It was right before the first practice since the team's humiliating defeat at Districts was about to begin. The other girls were already out on the courts. They did not want to know what might happen to them if they were late for this practice.

Leiko quickly surveyed the room to make sure nothing was going to jump out at her. Finding herself alone, she cautiously moved towards her locker. Ever since the itching powder, Leiko had been on high alert. Losing at Districts had heightened her paranoia because now there were more people gunning for her. A lot of people were unhappy with her leading the team to defeat, including a few of the Regulars.

Leiko tapped her locker door. Silence answered her back. The door was opened just enough for Leiko to peek in. When she saw no movement, the door was opened fully. That was when she noticed something out of place. It was a plain, white envelope lying on top of her things, with her name neatly written on the front. She carefully pinched a corner of the envelope to take it out of her locker. It did not feel heavy, so she knew that it probably would not explode. Against her better judgment, Leiko decided it was best to open the envelope rather than throw it away. Who knows, it might be from a secret admirer wanting to encourage her after losing at Districts.

Remembering the itching powder, Leiko opened the envelope as far away from her body as possible just in case. She then quickly dumped the contents onto the ground, while simultaneously jumping away from anything that might attack. Photographs fluttered to the ground. Leiko could only gape in horror. One of the photos showed her running away from her spider-filled locker. Another one depicted when she was still suffering from rashes. Some other photos showed her with a few friends drinking alcohol or smoking on what looked like the roof of the school.

**"When had these been taken? Only the others knew about that spot. It couldn't be them because they're in the pictures too."** Leiko's mind tried to grasp what she was seeing.

The sound of someone entering the locker room forced Leiko to realize the photos were scattered all over the ground. She hastily gathered the photos, and stuffed them back into the envelope. The offending material was quickly shoved under her things in her locker.

"Onee-chan? Are you in here? Practice should have started five min..." Keiko called out from the doorway. The others had decided Keiko would be the one to find their wayward buchou. She would be punished the least out of the club for bothering her. Wild-eyed, Leiko appeared before her sister could finish her statement.

"Start without me by having everyone do sprinting drills. I'll be done in a few minutes," said Leiko, still in her school uniform.

"Daijoubu, Onee-chan?" Keiko asked, taking in Leiko's frazzled demeanor.

"I'm fine. Go start the drills." Leiko said quickly, pushing her sister out the door.

- Line Break -

Practice had finally ended to all the club members' relief. Everyone had been trying to remain inconspicuous to Leiko throughout practice. They had concluded that Leiko had finally lost her grip on sanity. A Regular had been ordered to run laps just because she had sneezed too loudly. Another girl had been ordered to fetch all the balls by herself just for tying her shoe laces. The girls retreated to the locker room, immediately after Leiko called an end to practice.

**"Perfect."** Fuji purred in her mind. She was alone on the court with Leiko.

"Kuki-buchou, you don't look well. Maybe you need to eat better and sleep more. After all, BAD HABITS like eating junk food, or sleeping late can be bad for one's health," said Fuji.

Leiko had not been paying attention to the freshman on the courts. It was not until the girl had started talking about her habits that she focused completely on Fuji. To any bystander, it sounded like Fuji was a concerned kohai inquiring about her buchou's health. To Leiko, the words took on a different meaning.

**"Bad habits... It can't be. This freshman..."**Leiko's mind flashed to the photos hidden in her locker.

"It was you." Leiko snarled out, stomping over to Fuji.

"Whatever do you mean Kuki-buchou? I was just expressing my concern about your health. In fact I even left you a note earlier asking how you were." Fuji grinned.

"You bitch!" Leiko screeched. She lunged towards Fuji, intent on strangling her. Fuji jumped to the side to avoid the angry girl. Leiko staggered and fell to the ground after missing her intended target.

"You were the one doing all those things to me!" Leiko glared up at Fuji.

"Sorry Buchou, but what proof do you have?" Fuji taunted.

Leiko knew Fuji was right. So far everything could be written off as coincidence except for the itching powder. The school could not find any evidence leading to the culprit. The envelope might have Fuji's fingerprints, but it was unlikely. Someone careful enough not to get caught so far would not make a mistake like that. Even if Leiko could somehow prove Fuji was behind the attacks, Fuji had the photos of her drinking and smoking on school grounds. The school would immediately expel her, while Fuji might only get a suspension at best. Since the photos were not circulating all over school already, Leiko knew that she was about to be blackmailed.

"What the hell do you want?" Leiko stood up.

"Nothing much, just a match against you," said Fuji.

"Is that all?" Leiko was confused as to why this girl had taken the trouble to torture her just for a match.

"Well of course if I win. I become the new buchou for the team. If you win, your bad luck might just end."

"I was going to appoint Keiko as buchou."

"Then I guess you will need a better good luck charm for the rest of the school year." Fuji pierced Leiko with her eyes. Leiko shivered from the cold stare.

"Fine, you win." Leiko reluctantly agreed to the terms of the match.

"Why don't we tell the club that I've challenged you to a match for leadership? That way there are witnesses." Fuji's grin turned into something more predatory.

Leiko could not stop Fuji from making the match a public affair. The girl held all the power, while Leiko could only hope she beat Fuji. The other members were surprised at Leiko's willingness to take on a challenger, but Leiko was already acting erratically during practice. What was one more odd behavior to add to the list?

**"This stupid bitch will pay for this."** Leiko fumed in her mind as she stood across from a still smiling Fuji.

- Line Break -

Word spread like wildfire around campus about the challenge. Even though it was a couple hours after school had ended, it looked to Fuji as if the whole student body was present. Many wanted to see what might happen. Considering the awful performance at Districts, people were not sure who would win this match.

Sitting up in the referee's chair, was Yamato Yudai, the buchou of the boys team. Yamato was a third year who had short black hair covering a white headband over his forehead, and round glasses. He had been asked to be an impartial judge to the match. Because their buchou was the referee, the male tennis club had gathered around to watch too.

"This is a challenge match: Kuki Leiko, current buchou, vs. Fuji Shuuko, challenger." Yamato called out from his perch.

The two opponents met at the net to determine who would have the first service play.

"Which?" Fuji asked sweetly.

"Rough." Leiko growled out.

Leiko was thinking more about what she was going to do to Fuji, than who got to serve. The racquet spun for a few seconds before it clattered to the ground. The F on Fuji's racquet landed upside down. A murmur ran through the crowd about Fuji's bad luck in not getting the first service play.

The ball flew up into the air. Leiko used her anger at Fuji to direct a large amount of force in her swing. It sped over the net towards Fuji. Fuji jumped to the side to avoid the ball aimed at her shin. Fuji had been unable to return the ball while dodging. A few spectators had gasped at Leiko's blatant attempt at hurting Fuji.

"0-15"

**"So that's how you want to play. I will show you no mercy then."** Fuji's eyes opened to glare at her opponent.

The next serve was aimed again at Fuji. Anticipating another serve meant to hurt her, Fuji was already moving as the ball headed towards her last position. Fuji was perfectly positioned to return the serve this time. It was a short rally with Fuji scoring the point.

"15 all"

Leiko's anger clouded her judgment too much throughout the majority of the game. She continued to try to hit Fuji rather than aiming to win. Fuji made short work of Leiko's attacks. The audience could see that this match would not end well for Leiko. Keiko was constantly shouting for Leiko to play seriously. Leiko was shocked out of her anger by Yamato calling out the current score.

"0-5, Fuji service play"

Fuji bounced the tennis ball, catching it in her left hand. Her smile grew wider seeing the anger finally drain out of her buchou. Leiko had finally realized that her anger at Fuji just might cost her the match. Panic replaced anger.

**"Oh my god. Am I really about to lose to a freshman nobody?"** Leiko was pulled away from her thoughts by Fuji.

"Neh, Kuki-buchou. I'm about to do a move that will show you why you wouldn't have won even if you tried."

Fuji grasped the ball lightly with her left hand. Instead of throwing the ball up, Fuji twisted the ball in her hand and let go. The spinning ball fell towards the ground. An underhand swing met the ball before it could hit the ground. It flew over the net like normal. However, when it bounced on Leiko's side of the court, to everyone's surprise the ball vanished from sight.

There was silence over the court. Leiko and the spectators did not know what had happened to the ball. She had prepared to meet the ball as it bounced up. The ball had disappeared in front of her, right after it bounced. Leiko quickly scanned the court to find the ball rolling towards the fence surrounding the right side of the court.

**"How did it get past me like that?"** Leiko wondered.

"… 0-15" Yamato had no idea where the ball had gone too. The silence was broken with an explosion of noise from the crowd.

"Did you just see that?"

"I know, what was that?"

"She's only a freshman?"

The spectators could not believe a freshman had a serve that strong. Leiko looked across the court to a serene looking Fuji. When she saw that Leiko had returned her attention to her, Fuji's smile grew into a smirk.

"Like my Disappearing Serve, buchou?" Fuji asked.

Whispers broke out about the name of the freshman's serve. Leiko remained silent, already mentally defeated after witnessing such a powerful technique. Fuji returned to serving normally after the one appearance of the Disappearing Serve. She did not need it now that Leiko no longer had any hope of beating her.

"0-6, Winner Fuji Shuuko!"

The crowd cheered gleefully about the win. They knew someone that strong as a freshman would be able to redeem Seigaku's lost honor next year. Leiko was resigned to her fate. She met with Fuji at the net to shake hands.

"Don't feel too bad Kuki-sempai. I'm sure your luck will turn for the better." Fuji said good-naturedly.

"You may have won, but don't think I'll forget what you did to me. I'll make you pay." Leiko whispered low enough for only Fuji to hear.

"I'd like to see you try." Fuji answered back.

- Line Break –

Fuji was bored again. Leiko's attempts at revenge were just pathetic in Fuji's mind. Really, trying to use a whoopee cushion made the older girl look like she was a five-year-old. Fuji wondered how Leiko thought a pillow on her chair would not draw her attention. It did not help that Keiko was trying to convince her to sit at her desk with the pillow there. Putting itching powder on her clothes was just plagiarism. Fuji easily noticed the white powder on her clothes. Leiko had been overzealous with the powder and spread it all over Fuji's clothes. Anticipating something like this, Fuji had gloves and a bag for evidence on hand.

The pond scum was more original, but required better planning and execution. Leiko's use of the water involved a bucket, a pull line, and placing it above the girls' locker room door. Leiko somehow triggered the trap prematurely and the bucket full of pond scum had landed on Ryuzaki-sensei's head when she exited the room before Fuji. Ryuzaki-sensei found Leiko with the pull line before the girl could escape.

Leiko was called in to Headmaster Ishikawa Hiroyuki's office. Ishikawa explained to Leiko about all of the reports he had received of injured freshmen for the last two months. Also Leiko's grades had fallen to near failing. The girl had stopped studying to focus on getting back at Fuji. This "attack" could not be ignored, since it was against a long time staff member. This latest incident was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Leiko was expelled that day.

Her parents were livid after hearing the news. Leiko was quickly transferred to a nearby public school that had no tennis and no photography clubs at Leiko's request. Keiko knew it was Fuji's fault, but could not prove it. She tried to make Fuji's life difficult with shoved books, misplaced elbows, and malicious rumors. However, Fuji easily dodged the physical attacks, and somehow the rumors became twisted to the point where they were about Keiko instead of Fuji. Keiko's popularity dropped to an all time low. Fuji thought it was kind of cute that Keiko thought she could play at Fuji's level, but the lack of a challenge was wearing away at her.

- Line Break –

Fuji had let practice end early that afternoon to allow the girls to study for the upcoming midterms. Many in the club were happier and more relaxed now that Fuji was buchou. Even the older girls deferred to Fuji after she beat all of them in a single practice. Only Keiko was unhappy, but she held no sway over the club anymore. Fuji decided to go check on the boys team to see what they were up to. They male Seigaku tennis club had made it into Prefecturals and were preparing for the tournament.

She arrived to find one of the courts had a large group of freshmen cheering for someone on the court. It looked promising, so Fuji made her way to the fence surrounding the court. The boys crowding around the fence immediately made room for the pretty freshman buchou. One brave boy even asked for a date, which Fuji politely declined while keeping her attention on the action on the court.

A freshman boy, with windswept brown hair, and glasses was playing against a tall third year boy with cropped black hair. The name Tezuka Kunimitsu popped into her head. Fuji recognized the boy as the class representative for the classroom next to hers. They had met through their mutual friend Kikumaru Eiji, but were not well acquainted with each other. She never took much notice of him, like the other freshmen girls who thought he was the strong, silent type. He struck her as rather emotionless, which was not her type. She liked guys who could express themselves more like Eiji.

However, the boy she thought she knew and the one she saw on the court were completely different. Whereas the boy was stoic and silent around school, here on the court, his heart was laid bare. She could see it now. He saved all his emotions for the court: his stubbornness in his sprints to meet the ball, his passion in the force of his swings, and finally his love of the game in his eyes. It was all there for her to witness.

She watched in silence, fascinated by the different emotions she saw in his tennis play. His obvious skill interested her. She had to play a match against him. The match ended with a win for Tezuka. She left immediately after the match to plan a way to make that happen. Fuji never saw what happened afterwards that would affect the lives of the Seigaku Regulars in the future.

- Line Break –

It would be a few weeks later that Fuji would get to play against Tezuka. The boys' team lost in Prefecturals and no longer had a chance at making it to Nationals. She nearly lost her chance. Rumor had it that Tezuka quit tennis club for some reason. He was forced back in by Yamato-buchou. Fuji decided then that it would be best to be direct about her request for a match. She had found out around when he left for home and what path he took. It was actually disturbing even for her how much detail some of Tezuka's fan girls had about his life.

She waited for her prey by the bus stop that he took to get home. Fuji smiled when she saw Tezuka round the corner. Tezuka looked surprised to see her there, but stiffly acknowledged her with a nod.

"Fuji-san."

"Tezuka-san." Fuji answered back. There was a brief silence between the two. Tezuka started to feel a little uncomfortable being in Fuji's presence. Fuji patiently waited for Tezuka to ask why she was there. Her patience was rewarded.

"Ah, I don't think I've ever seen you here before," said Tezuka.

"I want a match against you." Fuji stated bluntly. The look on Tezuka's face made her want to giggle. It was so cute seeing the stoic boy so surprised.

"… Why?" Tezuka finally got over his initial surprise that the girls' team buchou wanted a match against him.

"Because I want to."

Tezuka felt that was all the explanation he would get out of the enigmatic girl. He weighed the pros and cons in deciding what to do. Everyone had heard the rumors about how the girl had driven her predecessor mad without any evidence pointing to her. He did not take much stock in rumors, but he decided it would be better off in the end to humor her request.

"Hn." With a nod of agreement was all that was needed.

The two found themselves back at school. As team captain, Fuji had access to the courts at all times. It made it convenient for wanting to play a secret match. After all, Fuji only wanted this match to be between the two of them, not the entire school like before.

Tezuka had the first service play. He held his racquet in his right hand, with his left hand throwing the ball up. The ball was sent over the net with practiced ease. Fuji quickly returned the ball, and a rally started. The first point of the game was scored by Tezuka. The match continued with Fuji scoring the next few points to win the first game.

Fuji's eyes narrowed. This was not the same player she saw before. Something was wrong. Was he holding back on her? Was it because she was a girl? She started become annoyed. Deciding to test Tezuka, she sent some of her best serves. She completely destroyed Tezuka in her service play. Now she definitely knew he was holding back. Fuji Shuuko for the first time in a long time was angry.

"If you're going to play against me, then do it seriously. Or else, why bother agreeing to play!" Fuji shouted at the boy.

Tezuka sighed and switched his racquet to his left hand. Fuji nodded in satisfaction. Play continued with Tezuka putting up more of a fight, but still it was lacking. The score was now 0-4 in Fuji's favor. Fuji did not know what was wrong with the boy. Her anger had subsided now because she could see that Tezuka was trying to win, but something was holding him back. She could see it in the sagging of his shoulders, his strained expression, and the heavy sweat on his forehead.

They were in the middle of the fifth game. Fuji had just returned the ball back to Tezuka. Using a left-handed back swing, Tezuka returned the ball. It was a drop shot, which fell right in front of Fuji's side of the net. Instead of bouncing, the ball continued to spin on the ground towards the net. However, Fuji was not paying attention to the ball; instead she was racing towards her opponent. Tezuka was crouched on the court, cradling his left arm with his right. He winced in pain.

**"Damn it, not now." **Tezuka thought as he tried to endure the pain.

"I'm sorry Tezuka-san. I didn't know you were injured." Fuji said, slightly panicked. "We should go see if the nurse is still in her office."

"No, I'm fine. I have to be strong. I need to be Seigaku's pillar of strength. I promised…" Tezuka grounded out.

"What the hell are you talking about? Come on."

Fuji tried to drag a stubborn Tezuka to the nurse's office against his wishes. Tezuka refused to move. He sat down on the court; the pain was too much for him to move. Fuji huffed in annoyance, but sat down with him. Tezuka started to explain what he meant to Fuji.

"You may or may not know, but I tried to quit the club." Tezuka paused before he continued.

**"So the rumor was partly true."** Fuji thought.

She nodded for Tezuka to continue. Tezuka went on to explain what had happened after the match Fuji had watched. The senior he played against found out that Tezuka had been playing with his non-dominate hand the entire time. The third year was so angry at what he thought was blatant disrespect for a sempai that he struck Tezuka's left arm with a racquet. Tezuka did not want to be part of a club that had players who used violence against each other. He was about to leave, but Yamato-buchou and Oishi made him rethink his decision.

"Yamato-buchou said he could see the potential in me. He wanted me to become Seigaku's pillar of strength. He believes I can lead Seigaku to the Nationals, when he could not." Tezuka looked at Fuji as he continued.

"That's why I need to be strong. I promised in front of everyone that I would be the one to lead them to Nationals. They are all counting on me."

"You are an idiot." Fuji deadpanned. Tezuka looked hurt that Fuji did not understand the great responsibility to Yamato and his teammates. Before he could argue, Fuji continued.

"You maybe Seigaku's pillar of strength, but one pillar doesn't hold up a building. A building is held up by multiple pillars, like you have teammates. Your teammates will help you shoulder the burden and together you will make it to the Nationals." Fuji was looking directly into Tezuka's eyes to try to make sure he understood.

Tezuka was surprised that he had not thought about his teammates that way. He thought that it was all up to him to lead them to victory. But now he could see what Yamato really meant. He gave Fuji a small smile, which turned into a grimace when his arm decided to twinge in pain again. Fuji had noticed.

"But first, you aren't going to be supporting anyone with a hurt arm." Fuji was able force Tezuka to the nurse's office.

The two sat in silence in the office as the nurse fussed about too many freshmen coming in from sports injuries. Fuji thought about what Tezuka said. She had not really thought about taking the girls team to Nationals. With the small number of members they had left, it was unlikely there would be enough for a full team until her third year, let alone a team capable of making it to Nationals.

Her thoughts drifted to the boy sitting in front of her. Tezuka was trying to bend his arm for the nurse. Here was a boy that had such a lofty goal or was it a heavy burden. She already saw a few of the freshmen boys who had the potential to help Tezuka, but she knew it would not be enough. An idea struck her. A devious smile formed on her lips. Tezuka noticed the look, but was unsure if he wanted to know.

The nurse sent Tezuka off to go see a specialist. She stated his muscles had been damaged, and he would need physical therapy and time to heal the injury. The pair slowly made their way to the hospital. Fuji had insisted Tezuka go to the hospital right away. She knew he would avoid it if she did not go with him.

"Neh, Tezuka-kun. How would you like to have my help in making it to Nationals?" Fuji asked. Tezuka looked at her strangely. He had noticed her addition of kun to his name.

"I don't see how, Fuji-san." He decided to remain polite and keep the san to her name.

"Don't worry about that. Just answer my question."

"Ah, I don't see why I would refuse."

"It's settled then. I'll be a support pillar to Seigaku's pillar of strength. Also call me Shuuko, since I'll be helping you."

"Ano…" Tezuka looked uncomfortable addressing her in such a familiar manner.

"I also want a rematch when you get better. I want to play against you when you're at your peak, Tezuka-kun." Fuji added.

"Hai, Fuji-san."

"Moi, I told you call me Shuuko." Fuji teased.

"Hn."

"How about if we make it to Nationals, you have to call me Shuuko or Shuuko-chan?"

"Fuji-san, if Seigaku makes it to Nationals, I'll call you Shuuko-chan and let you call me Kunimitsu-kun." Tezuka joked.

"Ohoho. I'll hold you to that Tezuka-kun." Fuji smiled. Tezuka started to feel like he just made a deal with a devil.

- Line Break –

"Kaida-san, your 4 o'clock appointment is here." A voice spoke over a speaker.

"Send them in." An older woman answered back.

Kaida Yuki (2) was a middle-aged woman, with lightly graying black hair set in a harsh bun. The office walls around her desk held photos and awards of her many accomplishments. An aged photo on her desk showed a younger Kaida in a tennis uniform with another girl looking strikingly like Sakuno holding up the Nationals trophy.

The door opened to reveal Fuji holding a few files under her right arm. She was wearing the female Regulars tennis uniform. Kaida was surprised that her appointment was with such a young Regular. She stood up to greet her visitor.

"Good afternoon Kaida-san." Fuji bowed deeply to her elder.

"My aren't you a polite one, Fuji-chan. Sumire-chan said you had something for me to take a look at." Kaida got right to the point.

"Hai." Fuji handed over one of her files. She sat down to wait for Kaida to browse through them.

Kaida slowly read through the file. A smile started to form on her lips the further she read. By the time she got to the end of the report, she broke out in delighted laughter. She set down the file to look at the girl more closely. She had set the appointment up as a favor for her old teammate Ryuzaki Sumire, but she is now glad she had. If her friend read the same file, then she could see why Ryuzaki pushed so hard to get it to her.

"I love the plan Fuji-chan, but how do you expect me to implement it?" Kaida asked.

"Don't be so modest Kaida-san. You're a high ranking member of the tennis association. I'm sure you would be able to submit the proposal at the next meeting." Fuji smiled.

"Yes, but what makes you think they'll take it seriously. The financial benefits are a good argument, but it would be going against tradition. You're smart enough to know how hard that would be."

Kaida played devil's advocate to see how the girl countered the arguments brought up by her fellow board members. Fuji handed over another of her files. Curious about the lack of real explanation, Kaida skimmed through the new papers.

**"Amazing. How did she get these?" **Kaida thought in wonder.

Inside the folder contained letters agreeing to the plan from coaches and headmasters all over Japan. A majority were from Tokyo, like Hyoutei's Sakaki Tarou, and Yamabuki's Banda Mikiya. But there were others in different prefectures and regions, like Rokkaku's Ojii, Jousei Shounan's Aoi Hanamura, and Shitenhouji's Watanabe Osamu. She did not know how such a young girl got these letters, but it was likely her old teammate helped out a lot.

"This next folder contains current players who would be able to handle the merger." Fuji handed over a thicker folder. The folder held photos and bios of different girls detailing their tennis styles and strengths.

"You've done a very thorough job Fuji-chan. I commend you for your effort, but I still think the other board members won't agree to this."

Kaida could not argue that the girl had done her homework, but she still did not think her fellow board members would agree to this plan. It would take more than a few extra dollars and letters. She felt bad about trying to convince the girl the plan would not work, so the girl's heart would not be broken when the board rejected the plan.

"Saa… I've already spoken to all the other members personally. You are actually the last member. They've all given me verbal agreement to the plan." Fuji answered with a smile.

"What?" Kaida choked out. They could barely agree on what to have for lunch, let alone something that would change tennis in Japan for generations to come.

"I can be very persuasive Kaida-san." Fuji's eyes opened to look at Kaida. The older woman shivered under the much younger girl's gaze. She decided she did not want to know how Fuji was able to convince her fellow board members to agree.

"Well then. Congratulations Fuji-chan, you just helped change the way tennis, maybe even sports in general throughout Japan is played." Kaida stood up to shake Fuji's hand. She wanted to be able to brag in her later years that she shook the hand of someone that would probably change the world.

"Arigato, Kaida-san." Fuji took the older woman's hand.

- Line Break –

Students were slowly entering Seigaku's auditorium. All of the grade levels were present for an announcement from Headmaster Ishikawa. It was the first day back from summer break, so many did not think it was unusual for an assembly to be called. Fuji was sitting next to Eiji and Tezuka, along with the other freshmen boys who would later make up the Regulars team in two years. She could not wait for the Headmaster to start. Kaida had already called to inform her that the plan had been approved with 100% backing. It was so well liked, that other sports associations decided to adopt the policy too.

"Attention minna-san. Please take your seats." Ishikawa called out from his podium. The lingering students quickly made their way to available seats. Once Ishikawa saw he had everyone's attention, he began his prepared speech.

"As you know, Japan is facing a fiscal crisis not seen since the end of World War II. Because of this, certain measures must be taken to cut costs where we can." Ishikawa looked around to make sure the students were paying attention. He savored the silence for a moment, knowing it would be broken soon with angry or happy students.

"Effective next school year, non-contact sports like tennis, track, and basketball will become coed. There will be only one set of tournaments for these sports which require teams of mixed genders to compete. This was to cut the cost for these sports programs, while maintaining the same level of quality and performance."

It was like a bomb had gone off in the auditorium. Everyone was talking with their neighbors or shouting at the headmaster to explain more. Tezuka turned to Fuji, the only person not to look surprised by the announcement. As if she knew he was looking, Fuji turned towards him to wink.

**"I don't think I want to know how she did it."** Tezuka thought. He brought his left hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Quiet down minna-san." Ishikawa stated after a minute of letting the news sink in.

"Now then, the club advisors will give you more detail about how it will work out for each specific sport. If you have complaints about this new arrangement, please direct them to one of the sports associations who are the ones who made this decision. Dismissed." Ishikawa retreated to the safety of his office to avoid any students unhappy with the new situation.

"Nya, this is great Oishi. Fujiko-chan will be on the same team as us now." Eiji exclaimed in excitement.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea," said Oishi.

"Are suggesting that girls are weak Oishi-kun?" Fuji asked with her eyes openly glaring at Oishi.

"It's not that. I'm just worried about how some of the male players would feel or act towards their new teammates." Oishi quickly stated to make sure Fuji understood he had not meant anything with his comment.

"With this new added variable, Seigaku has a 25% increase in making it to at least Regionals next year." Inui added his comments to the group.

"Really Inui?" Kawamura asked their resident data expert.

"Hai, the addition of Fuji-chan alone will boost the chance by 15%." Inui went on.

"I'm glad to hear that Inui-kun." Yamato appeared before the group. The boys quickly bowed to their buchou, while Fuji nodded in acknowledgment to her fellow buchou.

"I'm sure together you will all take Seigaku to Nationals and win." Yamato boldly declared to the freshmen.

"Hai!" They all cried out.

Present Time

"Neh, where is everyone?" Horio asked.

"Tezuka had to go to a doctor's appointment. Oishi had student body duties. And finally, Echizen said she was feeling unwell, so I let her go home. Now start your drills!" Ryuzaki-sensei informed the club members before barking out orders to those not fast enough in starting drills.

"I hope they aren't getting sick. Prefecturals start next week." Katsuo expressed his worry for the missing Regulars.

"Saa… don't worry about it Katsuo-kun." Fuji told the boy. She looked up at the sky, wondering how the match was going.

- Street Court -

Rin was panting heavily in the middle of the court. Tezuka stood across from her. He barely looked winded much to her frustration. She was sitting on the ground, thinking about the match she just played against her buchou. Her mind kept replaying Tezuka hitting a backhanded drop shot. She ran towards the ball, ready to return the shot. Much to her surprise, the ball remained on the ground and spun back towards Tezuka. It was eerily similar to Fuji's Tsubame Gaeshi counter.

Oishi was observing the two from his post in the referee chair. He already knew this was a bad idea. Now that Tezuka had his match with Rin, his doubts were confirmed. He was ready to head over to Rin to make sure she was alright, but a hand signal from Tezuka to stop made him pause.

"Echizen," Tezuka was standing in front of Rin. She had to look up to meet her buchou's gaze.

"I want you to become Seigaku's pillar of strength. The strength needed to bring Seigaku to Nationals. You may not believe me, but there are even stronger players than me who will be there."

"…" Rin remained silent. Tezuka took that as a cue to continue.

"You won't be able to reach your goal, without evolving your tennis to the strength needed for Nationals."

Tezuka looked carefully at his kohai to determine what she was feeling now. Rin's eyes burned with determination, something he had not seen yet in her throughout her past matches and the one they had. She did not ponder how Tezuka knew her dream to beat her father or to show that girls were just as good as or better than boys at tennis, only that he was right. Nationals were where all the strongest players were going to be. Where she would show everyone that this girl was the best no matter her gender. Once she beat everyone there, she would be ready to take on her father.

"You can count on me buchou."

- Line Break –

"Oyaji! Play against me." Rin ordered her lazy father. She tossed his racquet at him.

"Ow. You didn't have to throw it at me Runt." Nanjiro had not looked up in time from a new swimsuit magazine to avoid being hit in the head. Rin walked out towards the court without apologizing. He grumbled to himself about disrespectful brats.

"Do you want me to give you a handicap?" Nanjiro asked as he watched her do a few stretches.

"No."

The game started. Nanjiro immediately noticed the change in Rin's play style. It no longer looked like his. It looked like she was copying another person's style. He was still able to counter the moves, but he saw that Rin was starting to integrate the new style with her own as the match continued. He could not help but smile.

**"I don't know who it is that did it. But whoever it was, they brought back her passion for tennis."**

End Chapter

(1) Kuki Leiko is an OC that I created just for this chapter. Leiko is supposed to mean arrogant child. I chose it because of that, plus the rhyming scheme it had with the gender bent character Kuki Keiko who will appear later. Leiko might get mentioned in a future chapter when I do a flashback regarding why Keiko left to another school.

(2) Kaida Yuki is the name of Fuji's Seiyu in the anime. She will only appear in this chapter.

AN: So what do you guys think? I ended up rewriting this chapter quite a bit. Sorry about the slightly delayed update. This chapter is the longest chapter I've written to date, so I hope that makes up for the delay.

I'll put the full scene of Tezuka's attack when it is mentioned in his match against Atobe. This chapter is a focus on Fuji and the start of her friendship/relationship of sorts with Tezuka. I probably made Fuji too much of an evil genius or OC, but I think the sadistic Fuji characterization is what people like about Fuji in most fanfiction stories. Also I think I made Tezuka a bit OC too, but I figured he was less serious at twelve than at fourteen.

You all probably saw the Perfect Pair fluff coming a mile away. However, I'm pretty sure you guys didn't see how I weaved in Fuji's part in making the tennis coed. I credit it to random brilliance or insanity, whichever you guys want. Hope you all enjoyed. Please read and review.


	21. Chapter 20: Countdown to Prefecturals

Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi owns Prince of Tennis material, not me.

AN: Filler chapter. Sorry about that. I'm following the manga events for a majority of this chapter. I also upped the timeline on Rin's encounter with Ginka. To make it up to my readers, Atobe makes his first appearance in this chapter and I wrote an omake that introduces some of the Hyoutei Regulars. ;) Enjoy.

"Speech in Japanese"

**"Thoughts in Japanese"**

"_Speech in English"_

"_**Thoughts in English"**_

Chapter 20: Countdown to Prefecturals

- 9/8 Days till Prefecturals -

She continued to stare up at the ceiling. It was well past midnight, but Rin's mind still kept thinking about what had happened earlier in the day. At the time, she had felt confident and ready to prove herself. But now, her past insecurities about her wins in America haunted her thoughts. Tezuka was definitely not holding back his skills, which bothered her. He mentioned even stronger players at Nationals. Would she be able to beat these players? Even after her defeat, Tezuka wanted her to be the one to lead the team to Nationals. Why her? He was obviously more skilled than her. So the question remained, why her? Did he see something she didn't? As Seigaku's buchou, why is Tezuka not the "Pillar of Strength?"

Rin then remembered that Tezuka had been leading the team for over a year and a half. The team had never made it past Prefecturals. The same thing had happened to her father when he played for Seigaku. He was a brilliant player, but he could not carry the team to Nationals. Did Tezuka not have faith in his teammates? No, that was not it. He drove the team to do better, much like she had when she made it onto the team.

It finally dawned on Rin why Tezuka asked for her help. Tezuka saw that she motivated her teammates to do better. When her teammates saw her do so well, they worked to get better too. Rin was warmed by the thought that Tezuka had seen the effect, and wanted her to be aware of it. Rin was not as worried about what tomorrow would bring. She would help her team, in order to keep her promise to Tezuka. A promise of Nationals. But first, she had to get stronger to beat all her opponents on the road to beating her father.

- 8 Days till Prefecturals -

"Daijoubu Rin-chan?" Sakuno asked at the next tennis practice.

"Yeah, Ryuzaki-sensei said you were feeling sick," Kachiro added.

"I'm fine, just cramps." Rin bluntly stated. The guys who knew what cramps referred to cringed, while the girls gave nods of understanding.

"Gah! Echizen, we don't need to know that!" Momoshiro exclaimed in horror.

"If you are still feeling bad, I'm sure Obaasan would let you off practice today too."

"Don't worry about it Sakuno-chan." Rin tried to reassure her friend.

"I have some medicine if it bothers you anytime during practice, Echizen-chan," said Fuji.

"Lalala... I don't want to hear this." Momoshiro covered his ears. He and the other boys ran off. They did not want to listen anymore about women issues.

"I don't see what their problem is. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I have some chocolate, if you want," Umi offered. A bar of chocolate was handed to Rin.

"Arigato, Librarian-chan." Rin was about to take a bite, but was interrupted.

*Clap* "Minna-san, gather around." Oishi called out. The team lined up in front of Tezuka, Oishi, and Inui.

"You may want to keep that on hand for later, if Oni-chan brings IT out," Umi whispered to Rin. A shiver ran up Rin's spine. She quickly pocketed the chocolate for later.

"Prefecturals are next week, so remember yudan sezu ni ikou. Inui, explain today's practice."

"Hai, Tezuka. Today we are working on endurance. That means we will be running laps for most of the practice." There was a collective groan from the club.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. But if you need more motivation to run, I made a new drink that will help." Inui pulled out a pitcher with a fluid of various shades of red. Rin looked at Umi in alarm. The other girl sighed and nodded her head, confirming Rin's fear.

"I call it Penal Tea." Inui's glasses glinted. Everyone backed away from Inui, except Fuji.

"Saa, it looks tasty. Can I try some now, Inui-kun?" Fuji asked.

"Everyone will get to try it if they don't start those laps." Inui said calmly. A cloud of dust obscured the tennis courts. When Inui and Fuji could see again, the rest of the team were halfway through the first lap.

Once the terror of trying Inui's latest creation wore off, the club members tried to pace themselves. A few of the freshmen and juniors could not keep up the run. They were able to run up to 50 laps or so. Screams of terror helped motivate the rest of the club to soldier on.

"Ah, I forgot to mention that you have to drink Penal Tea if you can't make it past 75 laps. Also after 75 laps, I will be shortening the time you need to finish the laps by 1 minute until you have to finish in 3 minutes. Then you have to finish 100 laps in total." Inui called out to the group.

"We're doomed!" Kikumaru cried out in despair. A lap generally took 4 minutes to complete.

"Just keep a steady pace, Eiji." Oishi tried to encourage his doubles partner.

"I don't see the problem," said Fuji.

"Of course you don't Fuji-sempai. You like the crap that Inui-sempai makes!" Momoshiro exclaimed.

"Fshhh!" Kaidou hissed in agreement. It was the one thing the two rivals could agree on.

"If you guys have energy to talk, then you aren't running fast enough." Tezuka scolded the Regulars as they finished the 75th lap.

"AAAHH! So spicy!"

Thuds were heard in the background. The Ichinen Trio, along with Arai and another junior, fell victim to Penal Tea. They were just shy of the 75th lap. The only ones left were a few seniors, Umi, Sakuno, and the Regulars. Rin had been training her friends every Sunday, so the girls had been able to increase their stamina quite a bit. Unfortunately, the girls had reached their limit.

"Umi-chan and I aren't going to make it Rin-chan. Go on without us," Sakuno gasped out. Rin looked back to see that Umi and Sakuno were the last of the pack.

"Don't worry about us. I've got it covered." Umi gave Rin a tired smile for encouragement. Rin gave the girls a nod and kept running. The two girls dropped to the ground after completing the 76th lap.

"Well, Imouto looks like you and Ryuzaki-chan get to try my Penal Tea." Inui smirked. He handed them each a cup of Penal Tea.

"That's where you're wrong Oni-chan. It was my turn to do the dishes last night. You left enough of a sample of Penal Tea in the blender for me to make this." Umi pulled out of her bag a small bottle containing a dark brown substance. On the bottle was a label reading "Umi's Awesome An-Tea-Dote" with a chibified Umi in a victory pose to the right of the name.

"Umi's Awesome An-Tea-Dote?" Inui read out loud.

"Hai, this one was pretty simple to counter. Now one spoonful each should work."

Umi poured out her brown, viscous An-Tea-Dote onto a large metal spoon. Taking Sakuno's cup, Umi stirred her newest counter into the Penal Tea. The color changed from a blood red to a chocolate brown. Umi handed the cup back to Sakuno. She added the counter to her own cup.

"Go ahead, Sakuno-chan it should be neutralized now." Umi said with confidence.

Sakuno not wanting to hurt Umi's feelings carefully took a small sip of the "neutralized" Penal Tea. It tasted like chocolate milk, with a spicy kick, and a hint of cinnamon. It was actually pretty good. It reminded Sakuno of gourmet chocolates Tomoka's cousin brought back from a trip to America. Tomoka had shared the box with the girls earlier in the week (1). The drink had the right amount of sweetness and chocolate to counterbalance the spiciness.

"This is actually really good Umi-chan." Sakuno drank the rest of the cup in one gulp.

The club members that had to drink the unadulterated version of Penal Tea were shocked. There is no way that drink could be made to taste good. It was like drinking a bottle of hot sauce. Inui immediately took notes about Umi's counter. Sakuno's emptied cup was snatched out of her hand by Inui. He glared at the remaining liquid, thinking that glaring at it would answer how his sister came up with a counter so quickly.

"Remind me to thank Tomoka-chan for giving me the idea for this counter. I must admit, this is the first time I got a counter right in the first try." Umi said as she drank her cup with an equal amount of flourish before her brother could take it away to learn her secret formula.

"Why didn't you give us some too?" Horio yelled out in anger. The few conscious tennis club members grumbled their agreement to Horio's statement.

"I didn't have enough ingredients to make more than two doses."

The Regulars who had heard there were no more An-Tea-Dote doses quickly picked up the pace. They were determined to make it. There was only one lap left now. The finish line was in view. The group collapsed onto each other just as they passed Inui. Inui was too absorbed in being beaten by his sister to notice the Regulars had completed the run. It took him a few minutes to notice the pile of bodies in front of him.

"Oh, you guys are finished already? Now what should I do with the rest of the Penal Tea?" Inui asked.

"Throw it away!" was the collective cry amongst the tennis members.

- 7 Days to Prefecturals -

"Moi, Rin-chan, your Kaasan is just as weird as your Tousan," Tomoka complained.

"Yes. It is rather strange that she lets her husband dress as a monk while looking at erotica. Yet, she finds it sacrilegious to be using the side of a temple wall to practice tennis." Umi added.

"Hn." Rin grunted in agreement. She stopped trying to figure out her parents long ago.

It was far too early to be up on a Sunday morning in Rin's opinion. Rin was starting to regret agreeing to help the girls with their tennis in exchange for free lunch and snacks after they finished practicing. Being up early when there was no school or tennis practice just was not right. Umi had nixed the use of a Ponta fix for quick pick me up, stating the caffeine in the soda would stunt her growth.

Today the girls were planning to work on Tomoka and Sakuno's accuracy. They met at Rin's house like always. This way, they would have a tennis court readily available. Umi had taped a few targets on the side of the temple wall for the two to aim at. They had just started, when Rin's mother, Echizen Rinko, came out to check on them. Rinko immediately kicked them out after discovering the group was hitting the temple's side with tennis balls.

Tomoka had gotten bored during the short bus ride to a nearby park. She had taken the three tennis balls the group had brought with them, and started doodling. One ball ended up with a chibi face of Rin, much to the amusement of the other girls and to the annoyance of Rin. Another had random swirls and stars. The last one had a large flower on the side of it.

They had found a deserted backstop for the two girls to use. It was next to a poorly maintained tennis court, making it perfect for the girls' needs. Rin had wanted Umi to help her with a new move she had been planning ever since her match against Tezuka. She needed someone to help work on the timing of the jump at the end of her counter. After explaining what she wanted to do with her counter, Umi immediately started planning the training regime for the day's practice.

In the mean time, Sakuno and Tomoka got to work trying to hit the center of the targets. Tomoka was able to hit the outer rings of the targets on a consistent basis, but kept missing the center. Sakuno was making progress in that she at least was able to hit the paper the target was on. When she first joined the club, she would not have been able to hit the wall, let alone a 1x1 meter piece of paper. Unfortunately, Sakuno still had issues on power and control. The ball struck the top of the wall, before it careened off into the foliage behind the wall.

"Oh, that's my only tennis ball," Sakuno lamented.

"It should be easy enough to find. That's the one I drew Rin on, neh?" asked Tomoka.

"I think so." Sakuno nodded.

The two went off in search of the ball. Rin and Umi continued to practice Rin's newest move. When the others did not return after ten minutes, the remaining girls started to get worried.

"It couldn't have gone that far. Wonder what's taking them so long." Rin mused out loud.

"Ah, there is an 80% likelihood that Sakuno-chan got lost in there." Umi answered back.

"Hmm… You're probably right. I guess we should go after them then." Rin started to head behind the practice wall, with Umi following after her.

The two girls did not see the others right away, and went further into the growth. They soon came to a fenced wall. Tomoka was on their side of the fence. Beyond the fence were a few school tennis courts. Sakuno could be seen frantically searching through tennis balls littered around the closest court.

"Eh? I didn't know we were so close to a school," said Rin.

"Ginka if I'm not mistaken." Umi adjusted her glasses.

"Oh thank goodness you guys came. These bullies are making Sakuno-chan search for our ball through all of theirs." Tomoka angrily stated once she noticed Rin and Umi join her by the fence.

"That's right. She interrupted our practice. We're actually being quite generous by allowing her to look for her ball," said a third year with shaggy black hair.

"She wouldn't have had to search for it, if you hadn't knocked over all of yours!" Tomoka retorted back.

"Fukushi Michiru, third year buchou. They made it to Prefecturals too." Umi identified the third year softly so only Rin could hear.

_**"Great another bully. I swear they're everywhere." **_Rin thought.

"Oy. How about a match? For every game I win, I get to take one tennis ball." Rin called out to the Ginka members. She felt like teaching these punks a lesson.

"Hah, like we'd play against a weak, little boy like you." Fukushi laughed out.

"See Rin-chan, that hat keeps making people think you're boy." Tomoka argued.

The two still got into arguments about whether Rin should wear the hat when the group went out. For everyone's sake, they eventually agreed that when they practiced tennis Rin got to wear the hat. When they were out doing other things, Rin was forced not to wear the hat.

"That's a girl?" a Ginka tennis member mumbled to another.

"I know what you mean."

"Either way, we aren't going to play against a weakling like you." Fukushi cut off anymore talk amongst his club members.

"Heh, you scared to lose to a little girl." Rin taunted.

"Grr… I was trying to save you from getting humiliated by us, but now I'm mad enough not to care!" Fukushi's face turned red with anger.

"Ano… Rin-chan, are you sure you want to do this." Sakuno asked. The other girls entered the court to join Sakuno.

"Rin-chan has a 100% probability of beating them without any problems." Umi reassured Sakuno.

Rin had already made her way to the net to wait for her first challenger, so she had not heard her friends' comments. Fukushi stepped up first, confident he could beat the arrogant freshman.

**"Let's see how quickly I can make you cry."**

"Which?" Rin asked in a bored tone.

"It doesn't matter because I'm going to wipe that arrogant smirk off your face." Fukushi answered back. His fellow club members laughed along with their buchou, certain that the girl would be beaten quickly.

"Hoe~ If you're going to be like that, I'm going have to teach you a lesson in manners." Rin gave Fukushi an even bigger smile. A glare was the only response she received.

Rin walked away from the net and prepared to serve. She took an all too familiar stance with her racquet in her right hand. The racquet made contact with the ball. It soared over the net towards the unsuspecting Fukushi. He could only watch in frozen horror as the ball flew at his head. It had happened so quickly that he did not have time to move. The Ginka club members were shocked into silence, staring at their fallen buchou.

"Mada mada dane."

By the time Rin was done with Fukushi, he flinched every time a ball was sent towards him. His teammates, not to be outdone by a lone freshman, took up Rin's challenge. They fell down in defeat even faster than their buchou. Thirty minutes after the challenge had been issued, Rin stood undefeated over the sprawled out Ginka members. Every member had played against Rin, and they had all lost.

"Well, that was a good warm up. So who's next?" Rin asked innocently. Groans were all she heard in return.

"That's not a girl, it's a monster!" yelled out one of Ginka's Regulars as she ran away. The rest of her teammates followed her example. The Seigaku girls watched the Ginka tennis club flee from the unusually strong freshman girl.

"Way to go Rin-chan! You beat all of them." Tomoka cried out in excitement.

"That was amazing Rin-chan," said Sakuno.

"Since they all left, does that mean we get all their tennis balls?" Rin asked the others.

"I don't see why not. This day has proven far more productive than I had planned. I got some great data." Umi was busy scribbling notes down in a purple notebook.

"Let's go celebrate with lunch." Tomoka suggested. The girls all agreed, never noticing the large figure watching them from the second floor window.

- 4 Days till Prefecturals –

"Thanks for helping me set up for today's practice," said Umi.

"No problem, Umi-chan," Sakuno replied.

"Yeah, but what are in all of these?" Tomoka asked.

The three girls were hauling several shopping bags towards the tennis courts' surrounding area. It was twenty minutes before practice started. Umi had asked the girls for help at lunch. Only Sakuno and Tomoka were available. Rin had been assigned to class clean up again. Minagawa-sensei followed through with his threats against Rin. She had been caught sleeping during group presentation that day. It was the second time this week alone.

"Ah, let me show you guys." Umi dropped her bags to the ground. She reached into one. The bag had a sports supply store logo it. In her hand was a tennis ball tethered to an elastic band. At the other end of the band was a square weight.

"What is it?" Sakuno tried to puzzle out the purpose of the new training equipment.

"After our last 'adventure,' I felt we needed to work on control more. This device allows you to rally on your own, increasing your swing strength, speed, and control." Umi said, while Sakuno blushed lightly at being reminded of what happened that weekend.

"That's great, but what's all the other stuff?" Tomoka inquired impatiently.

"All the bags have these," Umi stated in a matter of fact tone. She started emptying the bags to prove her statement.

"Eh? There's has to be over 25,000 yen worth of stuff here!" Tomoka cried out in surprise.

"Where did you get the money to afford all this? Did you spend all of the club's savings?" Sakuno asked worriedly.

"I earned the funding for this equipment from sales of my Veggie Special Counter Agent (2) and Awesome An-Tea-Dote to pay for them all. After our demonstration on Saturday, many of the club members have paid quite a lot for my counter drinks." Umi beamed happily.

The girls sweatdropped at the idea that Umi had been profiting off the club's fear of her brother's drinks. They then realized how come they were not given the same option to buy the counters too. Being the good data specialist that she was, Umi answered their unasked question.

"Your counters come free of charge."

They sighed in relief. The three started to place the tethered set up in different areas around the courts to avoid accidents. Umi had explained to them, that although she was able to buy several of the devices, the Non-Regulars would have to pair up when using them. The Regulars had enough control not to need them, and were scheduled for a different training menu for the day on the courts.

The girls still had some time before practice started. Tomoka decided to test out the device while they waited for the rest of the club to arrive. She borrowed Umi's racquet. After missing the ball a few times at the start, Tomoka had found her rhythm and was putting up a good show of returning the ball by the time Rin arrived for practice.

"That looks like a pretty good training method." Rin had wanted to see what the trio had been up to before heading to the locker room to change. She watched Tomoka jump around trying to be in place for when the ball returned.

"It's actually pretty fun. Want to try Rin-chan?" Tomoka purposely missed the ball. It fell to the ground behind her.

"Sure," Rin took out her own racquet with her right hand. Soon the ball zoomed out in a straight path, before returning to Rin's waiting racquet. The other girls stared in awe at how it looked like Rin was playing paddle ball instead of a tethered ball and unattached racquet. She had not moved from her spot the entire time.

"Hey your ~form~ is pretty good." An auburn-haired third year boy wearing an all white school uniform said with a lecherous grin. Sakuno gasped in surprise when it looked like the boy was about walk into the path of the ball. He stopped just short of the ball's reach.

"Wow, he knew when to stop to not get hit," stated Tomoka. The other girls could tell Tomoka was going into her fan girl mode and backed away.

"In fact, you all have pretty nice forms," the boy gave the girls a wink.

Any fan girl ideas that Tomoka was developing for the cute, older boy were squashed immediately by his latest remark. Sakuno and Umi shifted uncomfortably under his leering stare. Rin ignored the boy's comments, and continued to hit the ball. The boy continued to stand right in front of the ball's path, unconcerned by its proximity to his face.

"Heh, if you put your body weight towards your front foot, you would be able to hit the ball with more power." A friendlier smile replaced his previously creepy grin.

"Hn, thanks." Rin swiftly switched the racquet from her right hand to her left.

**"Interesting, a lefty,"** was all the boy could think before the ball flew straight at his forehead, knocking the boy to the ground. The world swirled around him. He smiled goofily as the girls surrounded him to see if he was ok.

"I must have gone to heaven because I'm surrounded by beautiful angels," the boy was having a hard time sitting up on his own.

"Oh dear, should we take him to the nurse?" Sakuno asked.

"Get the Horio and the others to take him. I don't trust hentais like him," warned Rin.

"Who is he anyways? I've never seen that school uniform around here." Tomoka mused out loud.

"Sengoku Kiyosumi, third year Regular for Yamabuki, nickname: Lucky Sengoku. He replaced Tezuka-buchou in the Junior Senbatsu Training Camp last year. He's probably here to spy." Umi supplied from her purple notebook.

"He doesn't seem that lucky if he got hit with a ball." Rin commented blandly. She left the others to deal with Sengoku, and headed to the locker room.

- 2 Days till Prefecturals -

Momoshiro exited the sporting goods store with a fellow club member. He had been told to help the goods manager, Kuwahara Naoka (3), get some supplies Umi had ordered earlier in the week. They had just finished checking that they had everything when a yell rang out.

"Stop! He just took my purse!"

A large man wearing a beanie ran towards the two teenagers. Momoshiro took a swipe at the man as he passed. The man dodged under the swing, and kept moving. The two could see a woman frantically gesturing at the fleeing man, while shouting about a stolen purse. Without much thought, Momoshiro immediately took off after the man, leaving Kuwahara alone with several bags.

*sigh* "There's no way I'm taking this all back to school by myself." Kuwahara dug out her phone from her book bag.

Momoshiro chased after the thief, but was unable to catch up to him. He finally noticed that the thief was wearing roller blades. Seeing no way of catching him on foot, Momoshiro quickly grabbed the nearest bike, apologized to the owner, and took off on the bike in pursuit of the purse snatcher. Kamio took a few seconds to understand what had just happened to him. He had been walking along with his bike to the nearby bus stop, when his bike was yanked out of his hands. He glared at the retreating figure with his bike.

"You think you can get away bike thief. Well I'm in the rhythm!" Kamio in a burst of speed, chased after his stolen bike.

"Eh, Fudomine's Kamio?" Momoshiro mumbled looking back at the boy chasing after him. It surprised him that Kamio was gaining on him, and Momoshiro immediately started to pedal harder. The two quickly gained more speed.

The purse snatcher looked back to see two boys barreling towards him. He was knocked down to the ground as the two rivals raced past. The thief lay stunned on the ground trying to figure out what happened. The victimized woman ran up to the downed thief and took her bag from the man before he noticed. He only realized he did not have the purse, when the woman started to beat the man with said purse.

The racing duo kept on going until they reached the stairs leading to the street courts. They collapsed onto the steps, panting heavily. Once the two caught their breath, Momoshiro was finally able to tell Kamio about the thief he had been chasing.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were chasing a thief sooner?" Kamio grumbled out. He was not as mad now that he had his bike back.

"I tried to. It's not like I steal other people's bikes on a regular basis." Momoshiro quipped.

"With the way you look, I wouldn't be too sure." Kamio retorted back. Momoshiro's faced colored with both embarrassment and anger. He took a calming breath, remembering that he had been the one to wrongfully take the bike.

"So how's Fudomine doing?" Momoshiro decided to change the subject.

"We're stronger than ever. We won't lose to a reserve player like you." Kamio smirked.

"Reserve player…" the anger Momoshiro felt earlier towards Kamio returned.

"Hey let go!"

The two boys looked up the steps they were sitting on towards the street courts.

"Eh?"

"That voice…" Kamio said to himself, before quickly running up the staircase. Momoshiro followed closely behind to see what was happening. The two found themselves looking at several defeated tennis players standing opposite of two boys in unfamiliar Regular uniforms.

One of the boys towered over everyone on the court. He had broad shoulders, muscled arms, and cropped black hair. The other boy had a perfectly coifed head of silvery hair. He had a rather regal look to his stance that was complimented by the beauty mark under his right eye. None of these details mattered to Kamio or Momoshiro. All they had noticed was that the silver haired boy's right hand was grasped tightly onto Tachibana An's shoulder.

"You told Ore-sama that if he defeated all of the players here, you would go on a date with him." The boy smiled down at An, as she tried to pry herself loose.

"An-chan!" Kamio cried out, drawing everyone's attention to the new pair.

"Tachibana's sister?" Momoshiro looked around the court and noticed some familiar faces.

"Gyokurin, what happened to you guys?" Momoshiro called out to Izumi and Fukawa. The two were surprised to find Momoshiro back at the street courts. The Gyokurin doubles pair looked worn out.

"Ah, Kabaji, it looks like we missed two." The regal boy stated to his taller companion. He let go of An. She immediately went over to Kamio and Momoshiro.

"Usu."

"Daijoubu An-chan?" Kamio asked.

"Hai, these guys are just being jerks. He said that 'Street courts are…,'"

"For the weak." The boy finished An's sentence, drawing angry looks from the defeated players.

"~Really? Neh, Kamio, let's teach these two a lesson." Momoshiro grinned at Kamio.

"Yeah, but do you even know how to play doubles?" Kamio took out his racquet.

"Of course, doubles are my specialty."

**"Since when?" **Passed through the minds of the Gyokurin pair.

"Hey, can I borrow a racquet from you?" Momoshiro waved towards Izumi. Reluctantly, Izumi handed Momoshiro his racquet. Kamio and Momoshiro squared off against the unknown Regulars. Much to their surprise, the silver haired boy sat down on the court.

"Kabaji, take care of them," the seated boy order his other Regular with a snap of his fingers.

"Usu."

"Is he seriously going to sit there?" Kamio looked at his new doubles partner for an answer. Momoshiro just shrugged his shoulders in response.

Kamio was the first to serve. Pissed off that the boy was not taking them seriously, he aimed at the seated boy. The ball flew straight at the boy's face; however, the boy's doubles partner immediately intercepted it. With a powerful swing, the ball careened towards Momoshiro at an alarming speed. Momoshiro, surprised by the speed of the swing, moved his racquet to intercept. The ball connected with Momoshiro. The world stood still, as Momoshiro curled into himself. The stillness broke when Momoshiro stood up to show that he had been able to stop the ball from hitting him in the stomach with his racquet.

**"So you want to play it that way."** Momoshiro smiled deviously. It was time he showed the two why he was known as Seigaku's Rascal.

The ball went back and forth over the net. It continued to be a two on one match: Kamio and Momoshiro, against the boy so far addressed only as Kabaji. The other boy remained unfazed by the movements around him, having complete faith that his doubles partner would take care of everything. Momoshiro saw his opening, when Kabaji lobbed the ball.

"Dunk Smash!"

Momoshiro leapt into the air with practiced ease. He swung his racquet down with all his power, aiming for the arrogantly seated boy. The boy actually seemed to take interest in Momoshiro's latest move, but remained seated.

**"Not bad."** The seated boy thought.

"Kabaji, get the ball." Another snapped order.

Kabaji moved with more speed than Momoshiro thought someone of his size could manage. The smash was sent flying back past Kamio and Momoshiro's defenses. Momoshiro gaped at the ease his Dunk Smash had been returned. Only Fuji or Tezuka had ever been able to counter his signature move. Before the match could continue, a voice rang out.

"Momoshiro Takeshi! You left me with all the equipment, so you could play street tennis!" An angry Kuwahara yelled at the sheepish looking Momoshiro. He looked at the top of the stands to see Kuwahara with Tomoka, Sakuno, Umi, Rin, and much to his dread, Fuji. The freshmen girls were carrying the bags he had left with Kuwahara. Looks of annoyance were shared by all the girls at being forced to do Momoshiro's job.

"That's was very naughty of you Momo-kun. Naoka-chan called me to let me know you abandoned her. I don't like it when you guys do those sorts of things to my girls." Fuji openly glared at her wayward kohai. Momoshiro fidgeted under Fuji's stare. Fuji always did take it upon herself to look after the girls in tennis club. It was a left over reaction from being the girl's buchou for her first year at Seigaku.

"Ah, Shuuko-hime. I didn't know he was one of yours. You still look as lovely as ever." The silver haired boy got up from the ground to move towards Fuji.

"You know him Fuji-sempai?" Momoshiro asked, trying to draw her attention away from himself.

"Atobe," Fuji acknowledged the boy with a nod. She turned back to Momoshiro to address his question. "He's Atobe Keigo, the buchou for Hyoutei Gakuen. The boy next to him is Kabaji Munehiro."

"Ore-sama, keeps telling you to call him Keigo-kun." The now identified Atobe Keigo pulled out a rose to hand to Fuji. She made no move to accept the rose. After realizing Fuji had no plans on taking the rose from him, he tossed it to the closest girl with Fuji. Instinctually, Rin caught the rose thrown at her face with annoyance.

"Watch where you're throwing things you Monkey King!" Rin reprimanded Atobe.

"Hmph, I see you are still hanging out with commoners, my Cinderella. I don't see why you lower yourself with them. You could be with Ore-sama as your Prince Charming. Together we would rule over Hyoutei and the tennis courts," Atobe had lightly grabbed Fuji's hands, while making his pleas for Fuji to transfer to Hyoutei.

"Hmm… fascinating. I didn't know anyone could say something so romantic, yet so insulting at the same time." Umi commented blandly to the other girls. Atobe turned to glare at Umi. Fuji used the distraction to remove her hands from Atobe's.

"This guy has put me off from wanting to be a princess, if he's Prince Charming," Tomoka replied back. The glare shifted to Tomoka.

"I can't believe all those stories about him talking in third person are true," Kuwahara wondered out loud.

"This guy has an ego bigger than Tokyo Tower." Rin added.

Sakuno was torn in trying to stop the others from insulting the boy, or laughing at their statements. In the end she lost after Rin's comment, and started to giggle. Momoshiro, Kamio, and An had no such qualms and started laughing at Atobe's expression. He was not thrilled that the Seigaku girls were making fun of him. Fuji was having a hard time not to join the others in their laughter. It was rather amusing watching Atobe's cheeks color in anger.

"You plebeians just don't have enough of an understanding to be able to appreciate Ore-sama's greatness." Atobe ran his hand through his hair.

"Remember my offer, Shuuko-hime. We could be great together." His eyes locked onto Fuji.

"I'm quite happy at Seigaku under Tezuka-kun's leadership." Fuji smiled serenely. Atobe's eyes darkened hearing his rival's name with such endearment from Fuji. He swiftly turned around so Fuji would not see his stunning good looks marred by his anger at the mention of Tezuka's name.

"Let's go Kabaji." He snapped his fingers again. Kabaji appeared by Atobe's side with their bags. The two left without further incident.

"What a character," Kamio voiced after the Hyoutei Regulars left.

"Saa… now Momo-kun, I believe we still have to discuss what you did to Naoka-chan earlier today." Fuji's eyes were upon Momoshiro again.

"Urk… can't we talk about this…" Momoshiro backed away in fear.

"No."

- 1 Day till Prefecturals –

"I said I was sorry. Isn't that enough?" Momoshiro pleaded.

"No. This way you will remember your responsibilities." Fuji answered back.

"Fuji-chan, don't you think this is a bit cruel…" Oishi trailed off, seeing the look Fuji gave him.

"This is nothing. Just because I gave up my captainship, doesn't mean I won't take care of my girls."

Momoshiro had what remained of the Penal Tea Inui had introduced days earlier placed in front of him. The tea seemed to have gotten darker and thicker since the last time he had seen it. He could only watch in dread as the tea was poured into a large glass by Inui.

"I'll do anything but this!" Momoshiro begged to Tezuka.

"This is what Fuji-chan decided for your punishment." Tezuka walked off to speak with Ryuzaki-sensei before practice. Momoshiro had a look of betrayal seeing Tezuka ignore his plea for help.

"Just do it quickly Momo-kun."

"That's easy for you to say Taka-san. You're not the one who has to drink it!" Momoshiro exclaimed. Kawamura looked hurt at being yelled at.

"Fshhhh. Stop being such a baby about it." Kaidou replied.

"What? I'll show you." Not wanting to look like a coward, Momoshiro grabbed the glass. The contents were swallowed in two gulps. It only took a few seconds before his face started to heat up.

"Gahh!" Momoshiro quickly fled to the drinking fountain.

"Oy, since you guys are done, get your butts over here!" Ryuzaki-sensei shouted at the tennis members who had watched Momoshiro receive his punishment. Once she saw everyone was paying attention, she signaled Umi to flip the bulletin board next to her. On the board was a large sheet of paper.

"This is the play bracket for tomorrow. We are going to be up against some strong teams, so don't lose your focus." Ryuzaki-sensei pointed Seigaku's position on the bracket. She continued to lecture on which teams to watch for. Hyoutei was the last to be discussed.

"Heh, we get to see Monkey King in the finals." Rin smirked when she heard about Hyoutei.

"You're right. I can't wait to show up that arrogant snob." Momoshiro agreed now that he washed the taste of Penal Tea out of his mouth.

"Neh, Fuji-chan. We might be up against Saint Rudolph in the quarter finals. Are you going to be ok with that?" Kawamura tentatively asked Fuji. She remained silent.

**"Yuuta…"**

End Chapter

AN: Following omake is part of the storyline. I just didn't feel like making it into a flashback or finding a place for it in a later chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Omake: First Encounter

Fuji could not help but stare at the ornate gates in front of her. The gates were made of shining steel, with ornate golden decorations all along the grates. Past the elaborate gateway, was an equally awe inspiring building with a well manicured front garden. It made Fuji question the directions Ryuzaki-sensei gave her for Hyoutei Gakuen. Shaking off her unease from the sheer opulence of the school, she made her way towards the tennis courts.

Several of the male students gawked at her as she passed. The female students openly glared at the intruder. No one stopped her, thankfully. Fuji was still annoyed that she had not had time to change out of her Regulars uniform before coming to the school. She felt rather under dressed and slightly indecent in such a fancy environment. The female Regulars uniform had not been altered from Leiko's designs, so the skirt was still on the shorter side. Luckily she had a pair of matching bike shorts to cover herself.

The familiar sounds of tennis balls being hit told her that she had arrived at the courts. She gaped for a second time at the sheer number of members practicing in front of her. Ryuzaki-sensei had said something about Hyoutei having a large tennis club, but this was mind boggling. Fuji's quick mind estimated there had to be over 200 members. The multiple tennis courts spanned a quarter of the school.

The players noticed their observer. A few started to show off their signature moves after seeing the pretty girl watching them. Others ignored her after seeing her uniform. They thought she was there to spy on them. Some stopped their practice to head over to flirt with Fuji. The first to approach her was a boy wearing glasses, with long bluish hair.

"Can I help you miss? I'm Oshitari Yuushi. May I know the name of the lovely lady in front of me?" The boy spoke with a deep voice and Kansai accent. He gently took Fuji's hand to kiss it. The other boys decided to go back to practice after seeing Oshitari work his magic. They knew they did not stand a chance against Oshitari once he set his sights on a girl.

*chuckle* "My, my, aren't you the charmer." Fuji withdrew her hand, while giving the boy the smile she normally gave to flirtatious boys when she was trying to be nice.

"Will my charm earn me the honor of knowing your name?" He smoothly continued.

"It might, but first do you know where I could find your advisor, Sakaki Tarou?" Fuji asked.

"Sakaki-sensei is over there." The boy directed Fuji's attention towards a tall blond man in a business suit of all things sitting on a bench. Fuji was so used to seeing coaches in casual wear, that wearing a business suit on the court was foreign to her. His arms were folded against his chest as he gave orders to the players in front of him.

"Saa… Arigato, Oshitari-san." Fuji started to walk towards the man.

"Don't I get a reward for helping the damsel in distress?" Oshitari asked.

"Fuji Shuuko." Fuji continued her path towards Sakaki. Oshitari quickly followed after her.

"A name which matches your beauty perfectly."

**"Oh, he's good."**

Fuji had to give the guy credit; Oshitari was very good at flirting with girls. If she did not have an important errand to attend to at the moment, it would have been fun to see what pick up lines he could come up with. She reached Sakaki before Oshitari could flirt more. Sakaki noticed the girl, but did not find her important enough to bother with her. Fuji remained standing next to him, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence. Oshitari knew it was best not to hit on the girl with his coach so close by. After awhile, Sakaki decided to see what the girl wanted.

"Yes?" He raised his right eyebrow questioningly.

Fuji handed him an envelope Ryuzaki-sensei had addressed to Sakaki. Recognizing the handwriting of Seigaku's tennis coach, he took the envelope without further questions. He scanned the contents of the letter. Sakaki looked at Fuji to see if she knew the contents of the letter. Her smirk told him all he needed to know. The letter was reread more carefully to make sure he was not mistaken.

"An ambitious plan. I can admire that, but you won't get approval from me," Sakaki told the girl.

"Saa… can I not convince you to reconsider?" The girl had on a predatory smile. Sakaki shivered involuntarily upon meeting her gaze.

**"Eyes like that don't belong on a twelve-year-old girl."**

Tearing his eyes away from the girl, they landed on his most promising new player. Atobe Keigo was currently playing against four older club members. Even with the odds stacked against him, Atobe was easily keeping up with his opponents. Sakaki looked back at the girl.

**"Let's see why Ryuzaki thinks so highly of you."** Sakaki motioned for Atobe to join them.

"Fuji Shuuko, this is Atobe Keigo. I'll give you a chance to prove yourself to me by playing a match against Atobe."

Fuji nodded in agreement. This was not the first time a coach had asked her to play for their endorsement of her plan to merge the genders. She knew this match would be the hardest one yet. It did not escape her notice that the boy had been playing against four opponents and winning.

"Ah, you must feel honored to be able to have a match with Ore-sama." Atobe flipped his hair back casually. Fuji looked back at Sakaki quizzically.

**"Did he just speak in third person using Ore-sama?"** She could not tell if Atobe was being serious or joking with her.

"Yes, he normally talks like that." Oshitari took pity on the confused girl.

Fuji shook her head to clear her thoughts about arrogant boys. The surrounding members started to gather upon hearing Atobe was going to play against a girl. Many were already betting how quickly he would beat her. Others said he would probably go easy on her because she was pretty.

"What's with the onna playing against Atobe?" A brunette boy with a long ponytail asked Oshitari.

"The enchanting Fuji-chan over there wants Sakaki-sensei to support something important. Sakaki-sensei wanted to see what she could do, Shishido." Oshitari responded back without looking. He was too busy watching Fuji walk over to the nearest court.

"Che, this is a waste of time. She's just going to lose." Shishido Ryou said as a matter of fact.

*Yawn* "Don't be so mean Shishido-kun." A boy with light brown, fly away hair scolded his friend. He yawned again and rubbed his eyes.

"Whatever Jirou," Shishido did not feel like being lectured by Akutagawa Jirou on his behavior.

"Shut up, they're about to start." A red head with a short bob snapped at the two boys.

"I see you decided to join us Gakuto-kun." Oshitari smiled.

"Hn." Mukahi Gakuto acknowledged his new doubles partner.

On the court, Fuji and Atobe were at the net to shake hands. Instead of shaking Fuji's hand, Atobe took it and kissed it in greeting. Fuji rolled her eyes in response, as she yanked back her hand. It was cute when Oshitari did it to her. Oshitari meant it as a way of flirting with her. When Atobe kissed her hand, it felt like he was mocking her.

"Ore-sama will let you have the first serve. After all, ladies first."

Fuji openly glared at the boy. This was going to be one of those matches where she would not be taken seriously at first. She was tempted to start out with a Disappearing Serve just to see everyone's reaction, but thought better of it. That move should be saved for when it was an official match. Instead she started out with a fast serve towards the back of the court. Atobe easily caught up to the ball and casually returned it.

The ball flew back and forth between the players. Fuji used the time to analyze her opponent and to warm up. Atobe was surprised at how well the girl could keep up. Most of the senior members of the club would have already lost a point or two by now. He started to actually pay attention to the game now that he knew the girl would not lose so easily.

**"Not bad for a girl, let's see how you handle this."** Atobe sent the ball to the far back corner of Fuji's side of the court.

The ball bounced right on the baseline. Fuji was already sprinting to the backcourt after seeing where Atobe aimed the ball. She dove for the descending ball before it could bounce a second time. Her racquet connected with the ball and lobbed it onto Atobe's side of the court, just shy of hitting the net. Channeling her inner Eiji, the dive turned into a small forward summersault. Fuji sprang back up at the end of the summersault. Expecting the return shot, she quickly spun around to counter it, but the shot never came.

Everyone openly gaped at the girl. They were certain she would never catch up to the ball, let alone return it. Atobe was also surprised by the girl's drive to return the ball. He could not help, but watch her rolling figure rather than the ball. Her lob bounced lightly next to the net before rolling off to the side of the court.

"15-0" Sakaki yelled out. He had not expected the girl to score the first point.

The game resumed with Atobe paying more attention to his opponent. He started to see her graceful returns and sprints. Atobe could easily admit that the girl was rather pretty. On the courts, the girl went beyond that description. It was like a majestic gazelle prancing across the plain. Oshitari was right in describing her as enchanting.

**"I guess that makes me the lion."** Atobe smirked at his own thoughts.

"40 all"

They were tied up now for the first game. The Hyoutei club members were no longer too sure about the fate of the match. They had never seen anyone other than Oshitari put up as much of a fight against Atobe. Fuji was determined to win her service play to set the tone of the rest of the match. Atobe decided he should start getting serious. If he wanted to be King of Hyoutei, he could not show weakness amongst his subjects.

He watched Fuji deliver a fast slice across the court. A rally began between the two players. The ball was lobbed towards Atobe. Seeing an opportunity to win the game, Atobe jumped into the air. He used the force of his descent to increase the power of his smash. The ball rapidly sped towards the ground. Fuji quickly spun to a crouch, her back facing Atobe. Fuji delivered a quick backhanded return as she spun. The centripetal force of her spin absorbed the power of the smash. The ball arched over Atobe's head. It landed with a dull thud on the baseline.

"1-0"

Atobe could not believe he lost the first game. Not only that, it was to a move his own teammate used against him already. His teammates could not believe it either.

"Wasn't that…" started Shishido.

"Higuma Otoshi." Gakuto completed Shishido's sentence.

"Wah! That was cool! That's the same move you did to Atobe, Oshitari-kun!" Jirou was now wide awake and shaking the shoulder of Hyoutei's self proclaimed tensai.

"I see. This proves we are destined to be together." Oshitari smirked.

The expression of disbelief on Atobe's face brought an even bigger smile to Fuji's face. It was too bad she could not take a picture of it. It was likely one of the few times the boy had ever been shocked silent. He seemed to snap out of it after seeing her smile brightly at him.

"Ore-sama underestimated you. It won't happen again." Atobe put his left hand over his face. His fingers were spread apart to be able to see Fuji.

**"I can see your weaknesses."**

Atobe had decided to use his Koori no Sekai to find Fuji's dead angles. In Atobe's mind eye, icicles rose up on Fuji's side of the court. He quickly memorized the locations of the icicles before starting his service play. His serve went towards one of the icicles' positions. Fuji was unprepared for the awkward position the serve made her body move to try to return the ball. She almost lost her balance. Atobe sent his return towards another icicle position. Not having recovered from her misstep, Fuji missed the ball.

"15-0"

**"At least he is getting serious."** Fuji thought blandly. The same patterned continued, with Atobe aiming for where he saw Fuji's dead angles. Fuji was unable to keep up. The second game went to Atobe.

"1 all"

Her emotions were conflicted. On the one hand she was happy that the boy was taking her seriously. On the other hand, she was annoyed at how the last game went. Fuji decided it was time to stop holding back too. She looked across the court to see Atobe in the same pose as earlier of having his left hand over his face. It was very odd to see.

Atobe was using his Koori No Sekai to check her weaknesses as she served. The icicles that formed around her shattered just as the ball flew towards him. Surprised by his insight failing him unexpectedly, Atobe missed the serve.

"15-0"

"Did Atobe just let her have a service ace?" Gakuto asked. Many in the club were thinking Atobe let Fuji score a point.

"No, he was genuinely surprised by something," said Oshitari.

**"How did her weaknesses disappear?"**

"Since you finally decided to play me seriously, so will I."

Her statement made Atobe smile in amusement.

- Line Break –

"6 all!"

The two players were panting from exertion. They had played for over an hour now, each winning their service play. Fuji had to use Higuma Otoshi a few more times. Atobe revealed his Jack Knife by the fifth game. No other special moves were shown. The players were too concentrated on returning the ball to think about such things. The surrounding club members were still silent. They were witnessing history. Fuji prepared to serve the first tie break serve, when she was stopped by someone clapping.

"Bravo. Your performance has moved me. You can count on my support Fuji-san." Sakaki stood up from the bench he was seated at.

Fuji could not help but run over to Sakaki and hug him in gratitude. She did not see the jealous looks Oshitari and Atobe sent their coach.

"Ah, sorry, I got carried away." Fuji realized her forwardness and hopped away. She started bowing profusely, while saying many thank yous and apologies.

*Chuckle* "It's quite alright." Sakaki laughed off the hug. If any of the Hyoutei girls were like Fuji, he would be happy to have them on the team.

"Oy, we still have a match to finish!" Atobe called out from the court.

"Of course, Atobe-san." Fuji started to return to the court when she heard her phone go off. She quickly searched through her bag to find it. The caller ID indicated the caller was her older sister, Yumiko.

"Moshi, moshi, Onee-chan."

"Shuuko, where are you? You're late for helping me make dinner," Yumiko scolded Fuji over the phone.

"Nani?" Fuji glanced at her watch. The digital face showed 6:00PM.

"Sorry Onee-chan. I'll be right there." Fuji snapped the phone shut. She quickly shoved her things into her bag.

"Thank you so much again for your help Sakaki-san, but I have to go now." Fuji bowed deeply.

"Sorry, we're going to have to finish our match another time Atobe-san." Fuji bowed towards Atobe.

"Goodbye Oshitari-san." Fuji waved towards Oshitari while running off, leaving the boys bewildered and Sakaki even more amused.

*sigh* "And she disappears just as quickly as she entered into my life." Oshitari said wistfully.

"You've been reading too many of those trashy romance novels." Gakuto complained to his doubles partner.

"Hmph, Ore-sama wished to continue the match." Atobe stated to Sakaki.

"Probably better that it stopped, or you would have been beaten by a girl." Shishido teased. Atobe glared at his teammate.

"You'll have your chance if Seigaku goes to Prefecturals next year." Sakaki cut in. It was too tiring to hear the petty squabbles that these two players always got into.

"Eh?"  
>"She had come to ask for my support in her plan to merge the tennis clubs so that they would be coed." Sakaki walked off to avoid having to hear the aftermath of his revelation.<p>

"Nani!"

"I guess we better finish practice then. We don't want to lose to a bunch of girls like Atobe." Gakuto jokingly said. The other boys followed Gakuto's lead and left to finish their drills. Only Oshitari and Atobe were left by the bench.

"This makes things more interest doesn't it, Atobe?" Oshitari smirked.

Atobe was not listening to him. His mind was still thinking about the girl that had all the qualities his future queen must have: beauty, tennis skills, and with this latest news from Sakaki, intelligence. With a girl like that by his side, he would finally have everything.

**"Fuji Shuuko, I'll make you my queen."**

Somewhere near Hyoutei, Fuji felt a sense of foreboding. She hoped it was just her fear of Yumiko yelling at her for being late.

End of Omake

AN: I hope you guys liked the chapter and the omake. Please read and review. I'll be posting up the first chapter of my collection of one-shots/omakes for this story under the title, "Dreams of Belief" hopefully by the weekend. Make sure to look in my profile for when it comes out. My first one shot that I have planned will go more into what happens now that Atobe has his sights on Fuji.

(1): So I'm sure you are wondering what exactly is in Umi's Special An-Tea-Dote. It contains a combination of dark chocolate, condensed milk, and a touch of cinnamon. The gourmet chocolate shops where I live sell chocolates with cayenne pepper, wasabi, and other spicy things in them. This gave me the idea that Penal Tea, which is mainly hot sauce, could be countered using a mixture of chocolate, milk, sugar, and cinnamon.

(2): Veggie Special Counter Agent contains simple syrup (concentrated sugar for those who don't know), peppermint extract, and a little bit of lemon juice. The syrup sweetens the drink to make it more paletable. The peppermint masks the taste of the other ingredients. The lemon juice breaks down the algae to help the texture. Of course I wouldn't recommend this counter in real life. At least An-Tea-Dote might taste good in moderation.

(3): Gender bent Kuwahara Naoya, who is listed as Seigaku's goods manager. One of the few third year girls left from Kuki Leiko's reign of terror. You don't need to remember her.


End file.
